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believe in the intelligence of nature, or Universal Patterns, and feel that astrology can show us (in symbolic code) the ways to a deeper, richer, and more loving way of being. Given that, I want to emphasize the positive possibilities in the intense planetary patterns that will dominate in 2009–2014. But it will take me a while to get to that point in this article, because I also recognize how diffi cult this time will be for most of us. The sky may not be falling, but the ground will soon be shifting underneath us. How does the astrology refl ect that intensity? First, the outer planets combine in a challenging t-square confi guration; second, this t-square (Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto) happens at the beginning of cardinal signs, which are acknowledged by many astrologers as the points in the zodiac where everyone is affected. The Uranian astrologers single out 0° Aries (and hard aspects to it) as “the world point” and believe that, for mass events, these zodiacal points must be involved or activated.
Hades and Pluto Much has been written in recent years about the importance of Pluto entering Capricorn in 2008.1 Many astrologers have been anticipating the forthcoming opposition of Saturn at 0° Libra to Jupiter and Uranus at 0° Aries — all squaring Pluto in June–August 2010. This has been called the “Cardinal Climax.” At fi rst, it appears that the monumental cardinal t-squares of 2009–2014 are missing one cardinal sign: Cancer, which is only briefl y fi lled in by fastermoving personal planets. However, the transneptunian “planet” Hades (F) — used by Uranian astrologers — is slowly approaching 0° Cancer and will activate that point in the zodiac fi ve times between August 2010 and April 2012. Also, we are currently in the middle of a long opposition between Pluto and Hades (in the last four degrees of Gemini and Sagittarius) that will extend through September 2008.2 How to interpret all this? It could be that the uncertainty, fear, or dread many are feeling about the future will become more widespread as Hades infl uences the 0° cardinal power points.
Fr o m
the
Publisher
The Years Ahead and the Oil Crisis by Tem Tarriktar That fear can bring the motivation — and, hopefully, the willingness — to make long-needed changes. Hades, along with Pluto, Uranus, and Saturn, is very strong medicine, and the combination of these planets at the most sensitive points in the zodiac represents changes that will reach deeply into our daily experience of life. Outer planets have a way of “forcing” change — certainly, most of us don’t actively seek discomfort or uncertainty. The precise forms that these changes will take are impossible to predict in the long term, but the energetic climate, based on the interaction of these four symbols, can be described. Bill Herbst’s article in this issue of The Mountain Astrologer looks at this confi guration and shows that we have a choice between globalization and community as limits on global resources are reached. Richard Tarnas, in his recent book, Cosmos and Psyche, also explores this vital period. I will add to what they are saying by outlining a likely scenario, based on my understanding of the astrological forces in play and my extensive research on resource depletion, “Peak Oil,” and how Western civilization is structured.
Oil Is the Difference This Time Certainly, outer planets have lined up in various confi gurations on these cardinal points before, and civilization has somehow plodded on. What makes this time different? Well, the energy source at the foundation of our way of living — namely, cheap and abundant oil — is about to become scarcer and much more expensive, and we have created a fragile economic system, with a “growth forever” mindset, which cannot withstand an extended period of
contraction without collapsing. We live on a planet near its limit for providing resources (energy, metals, good topsoil, fresh water, fi sh) to a ballooning human population. Something has to give — we all know that. What astrology points to is when it might give. And I think the 2009–2014 period provides an astrological climate in which dramatic change is likely. Humanity has “fossil-fueled” itself into a dangerous corner, and there is one clear path of sanity: to cooperate with these forces of change — symbolized astrologically by Saturn, Uranus, Pluto, and Hades — and to actually change! To take in the gravity of the situation, of what the upcoming astrological patterns may usher in, there has to be some understanding of how much we personally and economically rely on the availability of cheap fossil fuels and what happens when they are not as easily available. For readers who are unfamiliar with Peak Oil and its ramifi cations, I suggest starting with books by Richard Heinberg (The Party’s Over and Powerdown) or James Howard Kunstler3 (The Long Emergency) or fi lms like The End of Suburbia or The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. There are also many excellent Web sites detailing the energy-depletion problem and likely solutions.4 I’ll just touch on a few of the main points here. Cheap fossil fuels have provided each American with the equivalent of the manual labor of 30 people every day — think of them as “energyslaves.” The energy that affordable oil and natural gas provide (gasoline, electric power, heating oil, etc.) allows us continued on page 24
June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 5
Issue #133 • June/July 2007
Feature Articles 26
45
Empire or Community by Bill Herbst
by Donna Cunningham
Humanity faces many critical choices in the decades ahead. Among them is which road civilization will take: empire or community. Bill Herbst invokes the outerplanetary cycles as a guide in making his prognostications — and he offers some sorely needed reasons for optimism.
34
Mars, War, and the 2008 Election
Which generation do you belong to? Baby Boomer? Gen-X? Or are you a Saturn– Pluto, a Uranus–Pluto, a Uranus–Neptune? Read on to find out how the outer planets combine their unique influences to define whole generations (even subgenerations) of people.
50
by Philip Brown Candidates for the 2008 U.S. presidential election are already queuing up, so it’s not too early for far-seeing astrologers to look ahead to this watershed event. Naturally, in the current climate of war, Mars is a major player.
39
How I Used Astrology to Find My Perfect Condo
Observing the Outer Planets in Combination
Twelve Steps Out of Hell by Chris Ogilvie Here is the story of Alcoholics Anonymous, as told by an astrologer who has lived with an alcoholic. Chris Ogilvie discusses the co-founders of AA and the tremendous legacy they left to all addicts, not just alcoholics, and their families as well.
73
The Vedic Signs
by Christine Nuwayser Davis
by Hank Friedman
Will the seller accept our offer? Is this the right house? Will we move this year? These are the questions this horary astrologer asked and answered on the way to finding her perfect condo. As you can tell from the title, this story has a happy ending.
The signs in both the tropical and sidereal zodiacs share the same names and many of the same characteristics. But there are some fascinating divergences in the meanings of the signs as viewed by Vedic astrologers against the backdrop of the distant stars.
Mercury Direct 59 Symbolic Substitution and the Way of Participatory Astrology
65 Astrology’s Next Step: The Power of Peer Group Work
by Bruce Scofield
www.mountainastrologer.com
by Bob Mulligan
STUDENT Section 11
The Planets: Neptune by Dana Gerhardt
17 19
TMA’s Chart Challenge Notes from a Novice: Advice to the Lovelorn by Jan de Prosse
20
An Introduction to Solar Arc Directions by Greg Bogart
80 – Article Particle Goodbye, Skinny Jeans — Hello, Saturn by Jenny McCutcheon
Forecast Section 91 Where’s That Moon?
92 June/July Forecast Calendar by Jeff Jawer 101 New and Full Moon Reports • Gemini New Moon • Capricorn Full Moon • Cancer New Moon • Aquarius Full Moon by Stephanie Austin 105 June/July Declination Graph and Astro*Carto*Graphy Map
Cover art and article illustrations (except where otherwise noted) by M. Tara Sanders.
TMA Departments
5 Publisher’s Article: The Oil Crisis
8 Letters to the Editor 56 Newsmaker: Molly Ivins by Pat Taglilatelo
58 TMA EcoPage 88 Astrology News by Gloria Star 89 TMA Professional Directory 106 Classified Ads 108 Cartoons by Michelle Kondos 110 Artist’s Showcase featuring Suzanne Gardner
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The Mountain Astrologer (ISSN 1079-1345) (June/July 2007, Vol. 20, No. 4) is published 6 times per year (bimonthly) by The Mountain Astrologer, 436 Colfax Ave., Grass Valley, CA 95945-6840. PERIODICALS postage paid at Grass Valley, California and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions are $39.00 for 6 issues in the United States. If you want The Mountain Astrologer delivered via first-class mail, add $12 for extra postage. Postmaster: send address changes to The Mountain Astrologer, P.O. Box 970, Cedar Ridge, CA 95924-0970.
June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer
Letters
to the
Editor
In TMA’s “Letters to the Editor” section, we do not print the street address or phone number of contributors unless the writer requests us to do so. If you wish to have other readers contact you, please specify the information that should be printed with your letter. We do not print anonymous letters. Letters may be edited for content or shortened to meet space restrictions, subject to the discretion of TMA’s editorial staff.
Dear TMA: TMA is so wonderful. I love to see it come in the mail. The articles are always the best of the best. I’ve read and appreciated all of Dana Gerhardt’s articles, but this time, with Jupiter and Saturn (TMA, Feb./ March 2007), I think she really outdid herself. (I’m also writing her a note of appreciation.) What great writing! For many years, I’ve explored and dealt with my own Sagittarius Sun and Mercury in the 10th, with Jupiter in its own sign conjunct a Sagittarius Midheaven, yet I gained further fascinating insights from Dana’s delightful Chicken Bone and Magic Tablecloth parallels.
Thanks for being a shining light in the astrology world! — Jean Chapman Snow Sherman Oaks, California Dear TMA: I was intrigued by the article by Diana Shaw, “A Visit from Pholus” (TMA, April/May 2007), which described events surrounding the transits by this Centaur asteroid to the author’s natal Venus. The diagnosis of a bladder tumor in December 2005 brought to mind another asteroid, Vesta. Eleanor Bach — one of the pioneers of classical asteroid astrology — suggested that Vesta might be related to the bladder. (See A Graphic Ephemeris of Sensitive Degrees, Planet Watch Publications, New York, 1986, page 62.) Vesta in Ms. Shaw’s natal chart at 23°37' Pisces is close to the Descendant and squares Uranus at the Midheaven. (See chart on page 69 of the April/May 2007 issue of TMA.) On November 19, 2005, transiting Vesta was stationary retrograde at 23°12' Cancer, forming a very tight, water-sign trine to natal Vesta. By mid December — the month of the exact Pholus–Venus transit — Vesta had retraced its steps to 20°34' Cancer, in very close aspect to the Ascendant/Descendant axis. Secondary progressed Vesta, at 27°34' Pisces,
was sesquiquadrate both natal and progressed Pluto at 13° Leo at this time. Also in mid December, the Full Moon at 23°48' Gemini tightly squared her natal Vesta. Fortunately, Ms. Shaw had successful surgery and eventual recovery, with one notable exception: As Pholus conjoined natal Venus again, on October 8, 2006, she developed a urinary tract infection, which was cured with antibiotics. I checked the Full Moon at 13°43' Aries on October 6th, which was in trine aspect to natal and progressed Pluto. Vesta at 1°04' Libra was exactly sextile natal Venus. — Vincent Mazzola Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dear TMA: The word of the year for 2006, as announced by the American Dialect Society, was “Plutoed.” To be Plutoed is to be demoted or downgraded — just as the planet itself has been. And Pluto is now a verb. To pluto is to devalue, to humble, to make lesser. Last August, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) sent Pluto off to join Ceres and Eris, by declaring him a dwarf planet — and not even the largest one. Like a youngster dismissed from the grownups’ table, Pluto was suddenly relegated to minor-planet status. The planetary “grownups” now number
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eight, and thus the god of transformation has himself been transformed, if only in the textbooks and dictionaries. Pluto’s reclassification provoked strong reactions. The widow of Clyde Tombaugh (the man who discovered Pluto when he was only 24) commented that she herself felt somewhat demoted. According to Newsweek, she told the Arizona Daily Sun that she’d gone from being the wife of the discoverer of Pluto to being “the wife of the discoverer of a dwarf planet.” Bloggers ranted, and journalists wrote editorials. Meanwhile, a nonchalant Pluto continued about his business — demonstrating that, whatever we call him, he is who he is. In fact, not since his discovery in 1930 has Pluto been so big. Small but mighty, he has reasserted himself into mass consciousness. Pluto works in mysterious, and sometimes ironic, ways. An example of this can be found in the way that Pluto acquired his name. In March 1930, at the announcement of Pluto’s discovery, Time magazine speculated about what the planet would be called, adding that “naming the New Planet is a problem.” The problem was solved by an 11-year-old girl named Venetia Burney. While academic debate over the name continued, Venetia thought about it over breakfast one morning and came up with “Pluto.” Her grandmother submitted the idea to the astronomers, and it met with approval. The unusual history of Pluto’s nomenclature shouldn’t surprise us, given that Pluto isn’t known for kowtowing to convention. But now Pluto has an additional name. The Planet Formerly Known as Pluto (and only Pluto) is now also called 134340. This minor-planet designation isn’t likely to change how we practice astrology. But the emotional reaction of the nonastrological public confirms the pervasive strength of Pluto’s influence. Poised on the threshold of the Galactic Center, his dramatic re-entry into public awareness is symbolic of his inherent power. Undiminished by his change of title, he continues on his quest for truth and change. When I think about Pluto’s size in relation to his potency, I’m reminded of the theory of relativity, which posits that enormous potential exists within miniscule particles of matter. Agents of monumental change often seem to operate at minute levels: sperm and egg, stem cell research, atomic power. Pluto’s force is fundamental and inexorable. I would like to suggest an alternate meaning for the word Plutoed. To be Plutoed is to be transformed. Our solar system has now been transformed from nine planets to eight. Symbolically, nine represents completion in readiness for a new cycle. But eight! Eight is a number of change. Eight represents many of the same things that Pluto does: death and regeneration, the letting-go of old orders so that new ones can emerge, mystery. The symbol of infinity is a figure eight in repose. From the heart of our galaxy, Pluto has altered how we think about our cosmic backyard. Perhaps his next task will be even more profound. — Kristine J. Anselmo Lewistown, Montana [emailprotected] June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer
10 www.mountainastrologer.com
The Planets
a series by Dana Gerhardt
Neptune Drink up, dreamers, you’re running dry. — Peter Gabriel, “Here Comes the Flood”
When transiting Neptune strode into my 5th house of romance and conjoined my North Node, I found my “soul mate.” Sean was a man with Neptune on the Midheaven, a former co-worker I hadn’t seen in years. He called me out of the blue, and the moment we first saw each other again, Neptune was hovering on the western horizon — conjunct the Descendant, conjunct the Moon, and square the transiting nodes. In our composite chart, Neptune was a major player, conjunct our 12th-house Sun, square our Moon, ruling our Midheaven. There had always been this unspoken connection between us. And now, from our first renewed contact, my life took on a distinctly Neptune quality. The driven efficiency I’d maintained for years simply dissolved. I found myself staring out of windows. Lost in another world. Even before we declared our feelings for each other, I decided to take a sabbatical from my astrology practice. It was a 5th-house thing, I told myself. I needed time to be creative — or, in case it should happen, fall in love. As a full-time mother, corporate manager, astrologer, and writer, I had no room in my schedule for falling in love.
June/July 2007 • TMA
p. 11
Neptune And fall we did. The nights we spent together stretched till dawn, talking, touching, laughing; we agreed, it seemed, on everything. In the wee morning hours, we rewrote our childhood histories so they seemed to converge — him on his schoolyard, me on mine, developing along parallel paths, until the years that had kept us apart finally brought us together. Soul mates. One day, Sean bought some books on Buddhist meditation — the very books I might have bought. Were we One? In earlier days, he’d been a wine connoisseur and had acquired a fine collection. We were drinking down the last of it, exquisite wines 15 and 20 years old. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but the intoxication seemed so integral to our Neptune spell, I joked that, when his wine cellar was empty, the relationship would be over, too. I took him to my favorite spot on earth, Big Sur. It had never been so magical. A week later, Sean had just one Cabernet left. We were on the phone when he suddenly stopped talking. He was angry, but I didn’t know why. This wasn’t the first time he’d reacted with a sudden, interminable silence. But that night, something turned in me. I’d never been in a relationship lasting less than a decade, but after four months of this one, I didn’t want to play any more. Our coupling had lost its magic. To the silence on the other end of the phone I said what I hoped was a cordial good-bye, pressed the handset button, stared at the receiver, and shrugged. As suddenly as I’d fallen in love, I had fallen out. Was it true love or was it Neptune? In the following weeks, as the fairy dust dissolved, it seemed ever more incredible that I’d been so crazy for this man. Why the soul-mate swoon? Is that what Neptune wanted? Does he take delight in twirling us inside out with fantasies? Astrologers often talk of Neptune transits this way, as temporary derangements of reality. We’re advised to be wary of ourselves; we’re vulnerable to deceit or imagination’s wiles. Western mythology has just a few stories of the sea god
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Student Section
Astrologers often talk of Neptune transits as temporary derangements of reality. Neptune, but the most famous one takes just this view. Odysseus is a decent man who, after the Trojan War, wants nothing more than to return to his beloved wife and son. Unfortunately, he angers Neptune (a.k.a. Poseidon), and the sea god makes him lose his way. For ten long years, Odysseus wanders in Neptune’s domains, among fantastic creatures in imaginary lands — the Lotus Eaters, with their magic fruit; the Phaiakians, whom the gods visit openly without disguise; the Laistrygonians, who have supernatural powers. He and his men are waylaid by women of sorcery: Circe, Calypso, the Sirens. It is Athena, the goddess of rational mind, who finally intercedes and gets him home. Athena’s rivalry with the sea god is an old one, pitting the conscious mind against the unconscious. It’s said that these two gods battled head to head for the immortal possession of Athens, and guess who won (the name is a big clue). It is strange that the Greeks, as a seafaring people, should leave us with so few stories of Neptune, a once-mighty god second only to his brother Zeus. Of course, myths undergo constant revision, like the canvases of masters getting painted over and over. Philosophers agree that, when the Greeks wrote Neptune out of his leading role, this was a critical turning point in Western mind, going toward the rationality of the city and away from the wild of the sea. Poseidon appears only in fragments after that, mostly terrorizing the shore with his brood of monsters, demanding virgins in ritual sacrifice. A dishonored god will take his revenge. Over the centuries, civilization keeps taming Neptune’s domains, organizing nature’s chaos into scientific laws, structuring sacred passion into religious institutions, refining imagination’s deliriums into culturally sanctioned forms of literature and art. So,
we shouldn’t be surprised by how the god (via the planet Neptune) chose to re-appear in the 19th century. The moment Neptune shimmered into view through Johann Galle’s telescope in 1846, the planet was gripped by a tight conjunction to pragmatic Saturn in Aquarius, the sign of science and technology — still strangled, it seems, by civilization’s preference for the rational, the structured, and the real.1 Even so, Neptune has made his presence known. After the planet’s discovery, he rippled through the culture, bringing us a renewed fascination with ghosts and otherworldly dimensions, the invention of anesthesia and the technology of motion pictures, also Freud’s and Jung’s explorations of dreams and the psyche. But culturally, this is still fringe stuff, not the starring role. So, Neptune continues to send his monsters to terrorize us. He gets no small revenge by swallowing vast numbers of us with drug and alcohol addictions, dissolving our heroic leaders into media creations and con men, numbing us via the trance of the entertainment industry, invading our thoughts with the seductions of advertising. Swallowed by the Whale Knowing Neptune’s cultural history doesn’t much help, however, when you’re sitting with someone in the midst of a Neptune transit. Like my neighbor, who lost his younger brother and his job and had a heart bypass when Neptune conjoined his Sun. Or the client who lost her mother to a sudden cancer when Neptune squared her Moon. Or my girlfriend, who began an ill-fated affair with her married boss when Neptune conjoined her Moon. I think of the countless thirty- and forty-somethings who, in the middle of their Neptune square,2 lost their dreams, their taste for life, their sense of who they are. Try saying, This is just delusion stuff, the revenge of a dishonored god — or (in the more positive spin) an opportunity to become more spiritual, to explore one’s imagination, to dabble in art. Try saying, Just grab onto reality and don’t get blown off course. The words will sound thin, which is fair enough in a world that doesn’t give much support for Neptune tasks. But if the world doesn’t under-
stand Neptune, we as astrologers should be particularly wary of making the same mistake. It often happens that the gods we demonize are just the ones we don’t understand. Does Neptune want to punish us or deliver gifts? Perhaps the best evidence of Neptune’s intentions is not what happens to people during his transit, but what happens within them. Neptune does his greatest work below the surface. That’s why it’s hard to reach those in Neptune’s embrace. They may be overcome with grief or delusion. If they’ve lost something dear — their health, their motivation, a loved one — their eyes may plead for direction, some way to make sense of the time. But no matter how compassionate or brilliant your words, likely none will hit the mark. Forget about waking up those who are dancing on clouds. Whether it brings loss or euphoria, Neptune’s transit is an abduction to another world. The feelings may be overwhelming but impossible to put into words. If you try to quiz someone about past Neptune transits, don’t expect much of a reply. It’s not like a Pluto transit, where every moment is etched in memory. It’s more like recalling a dream, or a drug experience, or an alien encounter. Much is lost, sometimes the most important parts. When I asked my mother about the year of her Neptune square, she got
Neptune brings us astonishing visions of what life at a higher level might be like. fuzzy. She remembered the year before and the year after. The year after, she said, everything changed. Neptune transits are an archetypal trip into the belly of the whale. When we enter Neptune’s sea, it’s as though the self we thought we knew dissolves. What’s left is swallowed into the unknown. As Peter Gabriel sings, “When the flood calls, you have no home, you have no walls/In that thunder crash you’re a thousand miles within a flash.” So, where do we go? Deeply inward. Or a part of us goes there. That’s sometimes the trickiest manifestation of a Neptune transit. Maybe nothing is happening on the surface — no loss, no grief, no intoxication. But try as we might, we can’t muster our whole self. This I learned the hard way, endeavoring to write a book the year Neptune squared my Mercury. I had hoped this would be an optimum time to tap into new imaginative resources; after all, I was writing about a Neptune subject, fairy tales. Consciously, I was motivated and determined, my agent
eagerly awaited pages, but the writer in me simply disappeared. Swallowed by the whale. The Neptune journey is so deeply inward, we can neither see nor touch it. This is supremely awkward, given our preferred heroic style. We want to face it, fight it, do something — but there’s nothing to do in a Neptune transit, except to have it. The whale’s belly is both a death image and a womb image. It’s an annihilation of self and a rebirthing. Joseph Campbell likens the journey into the whale to the journey of a religious pilgrim, an appropriate theme for the spiritualizing force of Neptune. “Allegorically,” says Campbell, “the passage into a temple and the herodive through the jaws of the whale are identical adventures, both denoting, in picture language, the life-centering, life-renewing act.”3 Life centering, life renewing. These aren’t the first words that come to mind during Neptune periods — but should they be? The month my friend Karen’s progressed Moon met her natal Neptune in the 7th house of partners, her solar arc– directed Neptune also changed signs. When a planet changes sign by progression or direction, it signals a major shift in the energy’s expression. The year of the shift often brings a significant event. What did Neptune invite? This married musician (whose natal Neptune
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f June/July 2007 • TMA
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Neptune opposes her Sun) went to a party following a performance, got drunk after heavily imbibing some Neptune brew, and placed her hand on the thigh of an also-married colleague whose wife was out of town. Shortly thereafter, a very secret and, in her words, “deliciously passionate” affair began. It continues a year later. Both claim to be content in their marriages, but this connection between them goes beyond words. Each feels that life without the other is impossible now. Their affair is all the things we don’t like about Neptune — a fantasy, full of deceptions and denial. And yet, as I’ve watched Karen unfold over the year, she’s been neither blown off course nor reduced to less of herself. Quite the contrary, she’s become more. Her love affair has inspired new interest in all the Neptune things that used to center her — her painting and poetry, as well as her spiritual roots. She looks and acts like a Sleeping Beauty who’s been kissed awake. What did Neptune want from her? Nothing less than being reborn into a greater life. Life centering, life renewing. When you study the temporary derangements of Neptune periods, this is where the ecstatic ones begin and the harrowing ones often end. When I consider the multiplicity of good and bad events associated with Neptune transits, I’m reminded of the stories of gifted gurus. Rather than teaching all students in identical style, they tailor their transmissions to the needs of each, being compassionate with one, cruel or abrupt with another, sometimes academic, sometimes playful. The students are left scratching their heads, guessing at the special wisdom of their guru. We often do the same with Neptune. But however this archetype manifests, his grace temporarily refocuses us — out of our familiar narrow world into a broader world that matters. Through the initiations of grief or ecstasy, Neptune brings us peak experiences that give us astonishing visions of what life at a higher level might be like. When Neptune visited my North Node, I who had never believed in
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After our Neptune transit, we often feel a greater sense of communion and compassion. soul mates thought I’d found one. And via this mirage, I was awakened from my efficient, machine-like trance. The night my “soul mate” lost his glimmer, I opened one of the spiritual books he’d given me. It was then that a much more enduring journey began. Perhaps Neptune gives us something like “inverse transitional objects.” Psychology describes the teddy bears and imaginary friends of children as “transitional objects,” helping to wean a child from an undifferentiated identity with mother into a separate sense of self. These objects facilitate the separation process. Perhaps Neptune’s inverse transitional objects are significant to the adult developmental process — helping to wean us from our separate sense of self into a realization of unity with the whole. Our separate self usually wins the starring role in youthful fantasies, which is why, at the Neptune square, we must be dis-illusioned of them. We must release the dreams of the smaller egoic self, so that wiser visions can rush in. After our Neptune transit, we often feel a greater sense of communion and compassion, a boundaryless belonging, an overwhelming gratitude — a state of grace. We reach an exquisite understanding, like the drop of water that finally knows it is one with the ocean. Neptune in Balance When it brings enlightenment and bliss, Neptune takes us into the heart of life — which began on our planet in the ocean, ancient Poseidon’s domain. Astronomers keep probing the cosmos and haven’t found this life-giving liquid flowing anywhere else. Isn’t this remark-
Neptune wants nothing less than your genuine devotion.
able? Rivers and oceans are mythological Neptune’s gift to the Earth. Dream is another. Our nightly descent into Neptune’s realm is an essential life-renewing act; deprived of dream, we lose our grip on the world. Our nightly swim in the invisible helps us to process anxiety and desire. We download wisdom from our higher self and tinker with our daily dramas in order to bear them better. Neptune is an ally. But how much of his gauzy world do we need for proper balance? Typically, we think of balance as a fifty-fifty proposition, but more likely what’s required is simple harmony, the ratio that works. If we use the ratio of water to land on our planet as an instructive metaphor, the Earth suggests that there should be 70 percent Neptune. And if this seems too much, consider that our bodies are largely water, too. Does this mean that we should forsake reality for the fluidity of Neptune, not just some but most of the time? It’s a trick question. Consider the normal state of mind. If you’ve ever meditated, you likely discovered that your “normal” mental state is a constant chatter of mostly self-important fantasies and distortions. Most minds are caught in an endless loop of fabricating stories and then believing them. Walk down an average city street, and the majority of “normal” people you’ll meet won’t really be there; they’re off on invisible journeys. Consider, too, the countless modern addictions — drugs, television, smoking, working, shopping, eating — that transport us to some netherworld. If you’re worried about upping your Neptune ratio to 70 percent, relax. You’re probably already there. But these are “faux Neptune” activities. Vacant fantasies and addictive behaviors offer none of the real treasure Neptune brings. Neptune wants nothing less than your genuine devotion. Examine what’s on your personal altar. Not what you’d like to see there, but what you actually kneel to every day. Where do you spend your time? There’s your worship. If it’s a genuine Neptune activity or done from an authentic Neptune spirit, you will feel blessed as you perform it. Your life will have meaning; you’ll feel a sense of peace. Even when circ*mstances are difficult, you’ll soon right yourself with
gratitude and renewed understanding. But if you mostly worship the Sun, this grace will be a fleeting state. The Sun is an emblem for ego, the part of us that hungers for personal satisfaction and glory. It’s instructive that Neptune orbits at quite a distance from the Sun, receiving just one-tenth of one percent of the sunlight reaching Earth. (One of the imaging team members from the Voyager 2 mission compared Neptune’s light to the inside of an unlit cathedral on a cloudy day4 — how appropriate!) To honor Neptune properly, we must keep ego out of it. Departures from reality are more often ego trips than Neptune ones. When our visions draw from universal sources and nourish the collective journey, when they celebrate not self but the sacred in the cosmos, then we’re wrapped in Neptune’s arms. To be there 70 percent of the time would be heaven. Mundane reality would be a Land of Bliss. What is reality, anyway? Today science gives us surprisingly Neptunian descriptions. Solid materials disappear into quantum mysteries, implying a unity of connections that only mystics can make sense of. Reality, the scientists tell us, is a flux, a multiplicity of possibilities, dependent on its observers. It is sourced in the relationship between seer and the seen. Theoretical physicists sound like Buddhists when they say an independent and objective world just doesn’t exist. If
To honor Neptune properly, we must keep ego out of it. we revisit Neptune’s discovery chart from this perspective, Neptune’s conjunction with Saturn takes on new meaning. Perhaps it was Neptune gripping Saturn and shaking up Aquarius, demanding a holy merger of science and the sacred. Perhaps it was a visionary invitation for all of us to bring Neptune values like communion, compassion, and imagination into the center of our culture. Perhaps it was Neptune saying, “Drink up, dreamers, you’re running dry.” Neptune will return to its position in the discovery chart in 2009. It’s not too early to start your celebration. References and Notes 1. Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846 at 9:49 p.m. GMT in Berlin, Germany (from Joylin Hill, The Discovery of the Planets, AFA, 1985). 2. Sometime in midlife, transiting Neptune will square its natal position in each person’s chart. Around this time, transiting Uranus will oppose its natal position. These two transits often coincide with the “midlife crazies.” 3. Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Bollingen, 1968, p. 92. 4. Thomas R. Watters, Planets: A Smithsonian Guide, Macmillan, 1995, p. 170.
© 2007 Dana Gerhardt – all rights reserved Dana Gerhardt, M.A., is a practicing astrologer in Ashland, Oregon. For appointments, e-mail [emailprotected] or call (541) 535-7631. Dana also offers “Moonprints,” a personalized report by mail that looks deeply into your birth Moonscape and the current positions of your lunar nature (see ad below). Also available is “Twelve Moons,” a monthly workshop in Sun– Moon cycles. For more information, visit her Web site: www.mooncircles.com
Find earlier installments of
Dana Gerhardt’s Planet Series Venus . . . . . . . . . . . June/July 2006 the Moon . . . . . . . . . . Aug./Sept. 2006 Mars . . . . . . . . . . . Oct./Nov. 2006 Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . Dec./Jan. 2007 Jupiter & Saturn . . . . . . . . . Feb./March 2007 Uranus . . . . . . . . . . April/May 2007
June/July 2007 • TMA
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Student Section
TMA’ sC
t Challeng r e ha Compare Your Skills with the Pros
So, you’ve been studying astrology for a while now and you’re wondering if you’re ready to start interpreting charts for people — perhaps even make a career of it. Before you jump in with both feet, wouldn’t it be nice if you could road test your skills first and see how you score?
Readers can find the answers in the back of this issue of TMA as soon as they’ve completed their own analysis of the native’s chart. No peeking!
Or have you ever looked at a client’s chart and wondered if you’ve caught everything important, or whether another astrologer might offer a different interpretation?
We welcome feedback from past questioners about how helpful (or unhelpful) the answers they received have been for confronting and resolving their life challenges.
“Sandy”
Well, The Mountain Astrologer offers its ongoing “Chart Challenge” to assist you. Each issue, in our Student Section, TMA will publish a new anonymous birth chart (of someone we know) and a question or two about that chart for our readers to answer.
TMA will ask two professional astrologers to review the same chart and answer the same questions. Their expert answers will be included for you to compare with your own results. So, pit your wits and astrological know-how against the professionals!
Koch houses, True Node
Sandy's Questions:
I feel that I am at a personal and professional crossroads in my life as a wife, mother, and co-owner of the restaurant that my mom and I opened three years ago. Am I in the right spot? Should I continue putting my energies into the restaurant? Or should I pursue another type of business in the service sector? Chart Data and Source “Sandy,” February 25, 1972; 6:00 p.m. PST; Grass Valley, California, USA (39°N13', 121°W04'); AA: from birth certificate.
Answers are on page 84. June/July 2007 • TMA
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Interactive Astrology Software for Windows and Macintosh
Customized for OS X Panther/Tiger
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Student Section
Experts and novices alike appreciate TimePassages for its exceptional speed, incredible visual and interpretative detail, and intuitive ease-of-use, while still costing less than comparative programs. Recommended by noted astrologers. I highly recommend TimePassages for both the astrological student and professional. —ALAN OKEN
Advanced Edition Features: • Natal Charts, Transits and Progressions fully interpreted including Chiron • Expert System Report Writer for Natal, Transit Surveys 3, 6 or 12 months • Solar/Lunar Returns, Relocated Charts, Synastry/Composite technique • Full ACS Atlas with 250,000 locations worldwide Only $199! • Also includes a comprehensive User’s Manual See our web site for other product offerings including: Relationship Insights add-on and Commercial License to sell reports
Call toll-free: 866-772-7876 (866-77-ASTRO) or visit www.astrograph.com email: [emailprotected]
Notes from a Novice:
A dvice to the L ovelorn by Jan de Prosse Friends of mine sometimes want me to decipher their charts. Since I’m not a qualified astrologer, I hesitate to do it, even for free. But I figure people can’t complain about something that didn’t cost them a cent (or the equivalent in Euros, whatever that may be). My dearest wish, however, is to have my own “no-holdsbarred” psycho-astrological advice column proffering tough love à la Venus in Scorpio. I would call myself Minerva. Here’s a sample offering:
Dear Minerva: I am bored and lonely and tired of waiting for Mr. Right to show up in my life. Can you tell me when I will finally meet that certain someone, the perfect person for me? I was born on May 6, 1962 at 5:32 a.m. in Meridian, Mississippi, USA. — Sue Ann
Dear Sue Ann: On April 13, 2012, you will meet the man of your dreams. I’m sorry you have to wait so long (blame Saturn, if you will), but there is much work to be done in the meantime to make yourself ready for this momentous occasion when it presents itself: You need to work on your self-esteem so that you’ll be willing and able to go out in the Big Bad World in search of love and adventure, instead of simply waiting for something to fall out of the sky on your head. In mid April, 2012, the participating planets — Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon — will be aligned to make your fondest dream come true. Then, it will be up to you to snag … oops, wrong verb … to make the most of this golden opportunity. Good luck to you! And while you’re waiting, I suggest taking up a hobby.
— Minerva
Does this seem too brutal? Well, why mince words! People want to hear the truth, so those who are offering solicited advice might as well cut to the chase. At least, that’s how I look at it. Correct me if I’m wrong. Oh, and by the way, I didn’t cast this fictitious chart, so please don’t write to me saying things like: “What are you talking about? Her Jupiter is nowhere near a favorable aspect in 2012!” etc. I’m just trying to make a point here. Don’t go all serious on me. Please. Here’s another example of the kind of advice I’d like to dispense:
Dear Minerva: My job is getting more and more unbearable every day. I can hardly drag myself out of bed to go to work in the morning. Life seems entirely pointless anyway. My wife left me without warning four weeks ago, and I’m still reeling. Can you offer me any crumbs of hope? I was born on August 23, 1930, at 1:31 p.m. in Dordrecht, Holland. — Hans
Dear Hans: News flash: You’re not the only person in the universe with a grossly unappealing life. In any case, if you can manage to hang on just a little while longer, in November your secondary progressed Full Moon will make everything seem worthwhile again. The current confluence of planets transiting your 8th house of death and transfiguration has certainly encouraged you to view your life through grey-tinted glasses these past few weeks. But all is not as
continued on page 86 June/July 2007 •• TMA TMA Feb. / Mar. 2007
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An Introduction to Solar Arc Directions by Greg Bogart
One
of the most reliable and powerful methods of astrological prediction is the technique of solar arc directions. This technique uses the motion of the progressed Sun to determine the rate by which to “direct” the other planets forward. Solar arc directions are unlike secondary progressions, which examine the organic movement of planets in the days immediately after birth, with each planet moving at its actual speed. Instead, the solar arc method directs all of the planets and angles forward by one consistent rate: approximately one degree per year — the average daily motion of the Sun and the yearly motion of the progressed Sun. The exact rate of the solar arc varies slightly, depending on what time of year you were born. The Sun travels a little more slowly during the summer months, and thus, over time, if your birthday is in the spring or summer, your accumulated solar arc will be slightly less than a degree per year of life. Nevertheless, we can begin with the assumption that all planets and angles are directed forward by approximately one degree per year of life; this enables us to make some powerful predictions about the unfolding of our natal chart potentials. Using solar arcs, we can reconstruct and anticipate the pivotal moments of a person’s life at a glance,
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Student Section
by visually projecting natal planets and angles forward to complete aspects to other planets or angles and by approximating the dates when these aspects would be in effect. Let’s examine the chart of a woman I will call “Holly” (see Chart 1, opposite). Holly’s natal Sun is at 17°43' Sagittarius, and Venus is at 24°10' Sagittarius. These two planets are separated by a distance of 6°27'. This corresponds to the age of 6 years and 6 months. When the solar arc (SA) Sun was conjunct natal Venus, Holly was in first grade, attending a very creative, artistic school; she adored her teacher, and she had good friends. Holly’s Ascendant is 24°25' Virgo, and her Saturn is at 1°24' Libra. Saturn is separated from the Ascendant by a distance of 6°59', corresponding to almost exactly 7 years of age. This means that the solar arc Ascendant was conjunct her natal Saturn at age 7. At this time, Holly entered second grade and felt rejected by her peer group. She was traumatized in second grade, hated her teacher, and developed a weight problem and a poor self-image (SA Ascendant conjunct Saturn). The distance between her Midheaven (23°43' Gemini) and the opposition to her natal Moon (1°24' Capricorn) is 7°41', corresponding to the age of 7 years and 8 months. At this age, her solar arc Midheaven (SA MC) opposed
her natal Moon. She had a better, more supportive third-grade teacher, became closer to her mother, and met her best friend. She was healed by feminine energy (the Moon). At the age of 23 years and 3 months, Holly’s natal Jupiter at 1°07' Pisces came to a conjunction by solar arc with her natal Descendant at 24°25' Pisces. She started graduate school and got a good job (natal Jupiter in the 6th house). Here, we refer back to the natal placement of the directed planet. She met an important professor (Jupiter) and had a five-year personal relationship (Descendant) with him. Holly’s natal Ascendant at 24°25' Virgo is separated from natal Neptune at 19°03' Libra by a distance of 24°38'. At age 24 years and 7 months, her SA Ascendant was conjunct Neptune: She was studying mysticism and religion at a university and doing astrology and Tarot readings. She accepted donations for readings but did not charge money (Neptune: service, altruism). She had a powerful out-of-body experience in a dream where she was waiting to be admitted to a mystery school. During this period, she was richly living the archetypal symbolism of the SA Ascendant conjunct Neptune. Holly’s MC at 23°43' Gemini is separated from an opposition to natal Mars at 26°05' Capricorn (in the 5th
house) by a distance of 32°22', corresponding to 32 years and 5 months of age. Thus, the solar arc MC was opposite natal Mars in the 5th house at that age. At this time, she worked at a rock music radio station; she was partying a lot (5th house) and dating one of the disk jockeys, a man who was into cocaine and wild sex. Her life was focused on sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. She was constantly going out to clubs and concerts (5th-house Mars). Natal Pluto at 19°47' Leo (in the 11th house) is 35°38' away from her natal Ascendant at 24°25' Virgo. At age 35 years and 8 months, when solar arc Pluto conjoined her Ascendant, she bonded with her husband-to-be when his sister committed suicide. She learned wisdom through an encounter with death (Pluto). She lost a lot of weight at this time, thus transforming her body image: Pluto–Ascendant.
Now, practice this method with your own chart. Using the average solar arc (60 minutes, or 1 degree, per year), approximate when your natal planets will direct forward to form aspects to your natal planets and angles. Then, go back and calculate precisely when the solar arc contacts occurred. What solar arc contacts do you see in the future? What trends do you anticipate? The
Using solar arcs, we can reconstruct and anticipate the pivotal moments of a person’s life at a glance. power of solar arc directions is that the symbolism is very likely to manifest visibly in our lives.
Calculating Solar Arcs
To calculate your solar arc directions, follow this procedure: Look up your birthday in the ephemeris. Determine your current age in years and months. Let’s say you are 40 years and 4 months old. Count 40 days after the date of your birth. This is the progressed date for your 40th birthday. To account for the extra months since your birthday, multiply 4 months x 2 hours = 8 hours. Add 8 hours to your natal Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) of birth. Let’s review the logic of this: By progression, one day after birth (or 24 hours) is symbolically equivalent to one year of life (12 months), so two hours after birth corresponds to one month of life. Do the calculations for your current age. Find the progressed date and GMT corresponding to your cur-
rent age in years and months. Now, calculate the position of your progressed Sun. Find the distance in longitude between your natal Sun and progressed Sun. In our example, this distance will be approximately 40°20’. This distance is called the solar arc. Now, add this arc to each of your natal planets and angles (Ascendant, Descendant, MC, and IC). These are your solar arc– directed planets and angles. Note any current, upcoming, or recently completed contacts of solar arc planets to your natal planets or angles. Pay special attention to conjunctions, oppositions, squares, semi-squares (45°), and sesquiquadrates (135°) — the kinetic aspects (so called because they tend to be dynamic and change-producing). It is easy to locate the conjunction, square, and opposition. For example, the progressed Moon at 18° Cancer is opposite Saturn at 18° Capricorn. But it is not so obvious at first that the Moon at 18° Cancer is also 45° (semi-square) to 3° Gemini and 3° Virgo, and it is also 135° (sesquiquadrate) to 3° Sagittarius and 3° Pisces. Thus, any planet placed at these degrees is receiving an aspect from the solar arc planet. To use solar arc directions, you need to start paying attention to semi-square and sesquiquadrate aspects as well, which represent 1/8 of the circle (45°) and 3/8 of the circle (135°), respectively.
Chart 1:
Chart 2:
“Holly”
“Anne”
Charts use Koch houses and the True Node.
June/July 2007 • TMA
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Solar Arc Directions Research recent, current, and upcoming solar arc contacts to your chart. Take note of what happened in the past or what you predict may happen with future contacts. Carefully study the unfolding of your natal chart by solar arc direction from the beginning of your life. Start with planets near angles, and consider the length of time it will take the natal planet to contact the angle — to reach the angle by solar arc. Identify correlations between the planets and angles involved, and note as closely as you can when this would have occurred. You can do this at a glance, calculating the distance between the planets and between planets and angles. Allot 5 minutes of arc per month or 60 minutes of arc per year. Notice the solar arc movement of a planet such as Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn over another natal planet or cluster of planets. Try to recall whether any events in your early life match the symbolism of the solar arc contact. Then, go back and calculate the timing of these arcs precisely. Keep records of all your findings.
A Detailed Example
To learn any predictive method, we need to study retrospectively. We look backward into the past before we look forward into the future. We study events that have already occurred and find correlations between those events and planetary transits and progressions. We study our own charts in depth to see how we have responded to past planetary contacts. We also study life histories, to see how a person’s natal aspect patterns, transits, and progressions have manifested. By studying past events, we can begin to anticipate the outcome of future transits and progressions: We can predict. We begin to discern how transits and progressions operate and how they correlate with real-life events. And we learn to be alert for comparable occurrences in the future. This is how we develop the art of anticipation. Here is another example of a client’s chart that vividly illustrates the power of solar arc directions. Chart 2 (p. 21)
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The power of solar arc directions is that the symbolism is very likely to manifest visibly in our lives. belongs to a woman I will call “Anne.” When Anne was age 6 years and 3 months, SA Saturn conjoined her natal Descendant: Her father, an undercover CIA agent, suddenly disappeared and left the family for the first of many times. It was a period of sadness, fear, and social inhibitions for Anne. You might not have predicted her father’s leaving, but you would infer from Saturn’s involvement that there might be issues related to the father and possible stresses or inhibitions connecting to others. Now, note Anne’s natal Moon– Uranus conjunction in the 4th house. Some instability or change in the family home and environment was indicated. This came to fruition at age 8, when the SA Midheaven opposed Anne’s Moon. At the same time, transiting Saturn was in Capricorn, opposite her natal Moon–Uranus. Her family began moving constantly, living in a series of transient homes and trailer parks, causing Anne much emotional upset. At age 16–17, when the natal Sun progressed to a conjunction with Venus, Anne fell in love for the first time. Also, at this age, her SA Saturn was conjunct Neptune in the 7th house; this was a period of romantic illusions and disappointment, since her boyfriend was an alcoholic who lied to her. Notice how the potentials of Neptune in the 7th house were brought vividly to life, including Anne’s ability to devote herself selflessly to somebody else. At age 21, when SA Venus (ruler of the 7th house) was conjunct natal Jupiter, Anne got married; she and her husband relo-
By studying past events, we can begin to anticipate the outcome of future transits and progressions.
cated across the country, bought a house, and had their first child. Also around this time, transiting Saturn in Cancer conjoined her Moon–Uranus in the 4th house. Saturn in the 4th house marked the beginning of family life. At age 25, when the SA MC reached a conjunction with Anne’s Aquarius Sun in the 11th house, she became a nationally recognized leader of an alternative, holistic health movement (11th house); she also joined a group healing arts clinic. Anne’s Sun rules her 5th house (children). When the SA MC was conjunct her Sun, she had her second child; the birth was timed exactly by transiting Saturn in Leo conjunct natal Pluto in the 5th house. However, soon thereafter, Anne’s husband started having an affair (transiting Saturn aspecting natal Venus opposite Pluto: relational complications, jealousy). At age 30, during Anne’s Saturn return (when transiting Saturn was in the 7th house), she had increasingly serious marital problems, yet her professional practice with her husband was thriving. At the same time (age 30), SA Jupiter reached a conjunction with Anne’s Ascendant, and she published a book that earned her lasting recognition in her field. That book continues to sell today, more than 20 years later. When Anne was 35, solar arc Mars squared her MC, and the solar arc Moon conjoined natal Pluto; she went through an acrimonious divorce (Mars), an emotional crisis (Moon–Pluto), and an upheaval regarding her children (Pluto in Leo in the 5th house). She received her doctorate at age 38, when her progressed Sun was conjunct Jupiter. It is astonishing how closely events are linked to planetary symbolism. When Anne’s SA MC was conjunct natal Venus in the 11th house, her daughter got married. Let’s introduce a little derived house analysis — most often used in horary astrology but also very helpful in natal astrology. The 11th house is the seventh from the 5th house (children); therefore, it governs the child’s relationship or marriage. Two years later, the SA MC opposed Pluto in the 5th house; Anne’s daughter divorced and became a single mother. When SA Venus reached a conjunction with Anne’s Ascendant, her daugh-
ter remarried, much more happily. The effect of this SA Venus contact resonated with the meaning of Venus’s natal placement in Anne’s 11th house, the house of the child’s marriage. Anne herself remarried in the late 1980s, when transiting Saturn in Capricorn squared her natal Saturn and Neptune in the 7th house — that is, under a hard aspect of Saturn. Her second marriage is much better than her first. We shouldn’t assume that Saturn is necessarily a negative or malefic planetary influence. Anne’s Mercury in Capricorn conjunct the Midheaven is a potent force: She is a tremendous writer, and she wrote all her major works during transits of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus to her natal Mercury. For the past few years, however, her writing has been dormant. Anne was in despair; there seemed to be nothing else to say or write. But I saw transiting Saturn in Cancer opposite natal Mercury. Could it be that, fairly soon, Anne would again be stirred to write? When Saturn turned retrograde and formed the second opposition to Mercury, she was contacted by a literary agent in New York about a book proposal. She threw herself into the new project with focus, energy, and enthusiasm. These kinds of retrospective life studies teach us to assess planetary symbols and the developmental tasks and phases they indicate. And on this basis, it is possible to predict or anticipate future tasks and trends. Such life studies teach us that astrology reveals the individual path of development and the timing of certain types of experiences.
The Meaning of Events
If astrology’s predictive methods are to be most helpful, it is important to avoid superficiality. Humanistic astrologers are not concerned only with whether events are good or bad. Rather, the goal is to understand how every phase of life is meaningful. Dane Rudhyar said: “Every event is accepted as a necessary phase in the ritual process of existence …”1 We need to go below the surface of events, to the deeper dimension of meaning. When I was 12 years old, I had solar arc Pluto sesquiquadrate my Sun,
We shouldn’t assume that Saturn is necessarily a negative or malefic planetary influence. plus a secondary progressed Moon– Mars opposition (charts not shown). On the day of a transiting Moon–Pluto conjunction, I was hit by a car and broke several bones. This awakened me to the fragility of life (Pluto: emergencies, brush with death). It was also a classic manifestation of Mars as the planet of mishaps and injuries. But looking more closely at this event, I was able to discern a deeper meaning. Solar arc Jupiter was conjunct my 2nd-house cusp, and transiting Jupiter opposed transiting Saturn in Taurus: I won a small financial settlement (Taurus and the 2nd house: money), which sat in a bank account until I was 21; this aided my development by enabling me to travel and find myself for an extended period after college. At the time of the accident, transiting Saturn was stationary direct, exactly square my Moon, and solar arc Saturn was exactly semi-square my Moon: Several nice nurses took good care of me (Moon: women, caregivers, nurturing) until my mother (Moon) arrived at the hospital, and she was especially tender and loving toward me. I grew closer to my mother in the days and weeks after this accident. I had a beautiful experience of the mother archetype. All my needs were taken care of. Also, the Moon–Pluto conjunction in Virgo in my 12th house was relevant. This was my first time inside a hospital (12th house) since my birth. In my hours in the emergency room, I saw many gravely ill and injured individuals. I became aware of the preciousness of life. Events are not black and white, and they may have a deeper meaning than is apparent on the surface. None of this subtlety can be captured by an
We need to go below the surface of events, to the deeper dimension of meaning.
approach to astrology where we simply say “that is bad” or “this is good.” The interpretation of a chart requires attention to the nuances of events, to what Alexander Ruperti calls “the total uniqueness of each moment.”2 Chart Data and Sources “Holly,” December 10, 1950; 12:28 a.m. PST; Richmond, CA, USA (37°N56', 122°W21'); AA: birth certificate. “Anne,” January 21, 1951; 10:18 a.m. CST; Biloxi, MS, USA (30°N24', 88°W53'); AA: birth certificate.
References 1. Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala, Vintage Books, 1973, p. 385. 2. Alexander Ruperti, Cycles of Becoming, CRCS, 1978, p. 7. © 2007 Greg Bogart – all rights reserved
Greg Bogart, Ph.D., MFT, is a psychotherapist and astrologer in the San Francisco Bay Area; he teaches in the School of Professional Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Greg is the author of Astrology and Meditation: The Fearless Contemplation of Change; Astrology and Spiritual Awakening; and Rudhyar’s Astrology in Plain Language. To contact Greg for personal consultations, call (510) 594-4329, or e-mail: [emailprotected]. To order Greg’s books, call Dawn Mountain Press at (510) 412-0486, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Pacific time; Web sites: www.dawnmountain. com and www.gregbogart.net
TMA’s Book Reviews Are Online New reviews are posted at the beginning of each month. www.mountainastrologer.com June/July 2007 • TMA
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The Years Ahead and the Oil Crisis continued from page 5
to house ourselves, pump water to our buildings, travel, stay warm or cool, grow our food, and produce our medicines. We rely heavily on fossil fuels for agriculture, since they are needed to make fertilizers and pesticides and diesel fuel for tractors and the trucks that ship the food to us. Oil fuels industry, the military, tourism, and modern medicine/pharmaceuticals. Nothing can replace oil for the energy it gives on the scale needed. Not nuclear plants, not coal, not renewable energy (like solar and wind power). If all the world’s current grain and oilseed production were converted to biofuels, it would supply only 13% of our current fuel use.5 Unless viable alternatives such as biofuel from algae are developed with the speed and fervor of the Apollo Project to land humans on the Moon, biofuels will not be a major part of the solution. Natural gas is a big factor in producing electricity. We are now past the peak of natural gas production in the United States; a lot of gas is being imported from Canada, even while their gas producers are drilling more and more small gas wells just to stay even
with current production.6 In the U.S., 25% of our energy comes from natural gas, and more than half of U.S. homes are heated by natural gas, including almost all of the new construction. Many experts believe that we are either at the peak of global oil production now or will reach the peak by 2008–2012. From then on, it is a (hopefully) slow but irreversible decline. The key point is when demand significantly exceeds supply, and shortages begin to happen. Unless a sharp economic downturn of the world economy inhibits the demand soon, we will probably see something in 2008–2015 like the following scenario: As people in the financial markets overcome their denial that global production of oil is flat or decreasing while demand is still increasing, there is likely to be panic — and that’s when the economic dominos start falling. There will be less oil exported as countries that extract oil satisfy their domestic needs first. (Oil exports are down 7% just in the last year.) First come higher prices, then spot shortages, then rationing. That will lead to global competition for the remaining productive oilfields; rich countries that can pay more will leave poorer countries high and dry (sparking new wars over access to energy). People will tend to elect or tolerate totalitarian leaders who promise to restore
Chart 1 December 21, 2009 12:48 p.m. EST
Chart 2 August 4, 2010 12:52 a.m. EDT
All charts use Placidus houses and the True Node and are cast for Washington, D.C.
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their access to gasoline or energy. And as demand for oil is impacted by a diving economy, there will appear to be moments when supply meets demand and gas prices swing lower, only to skyrocket again when global oil production is reduced further by the overall depletion trend, the next oil war, or another natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina. It looks to me as though significant lifestyle changes are coming for all but the very wealthy — either voluntary or forced by circ*mstances — probably before 2015. Because of the time it takes to understand the problem, overcome denial, react creatively, and implement the infrastructure for innovations that might soften the transition, the shift — which may last a decade — will likely be chaotic and harsh, triggering a major economic depression. I think that Pluto’s discovery and elevation to planetary status in 1930 symbolized, among other things, an era of extreme concentration of power and wealth (in corporations and governments as well as rich individuals) that was made possible by cheap, abundant energy in the form of oil — the ultimate Plutonian underground treasure. Now Pluto has officially lost its status as a planet, and the oil age is starting to sputter and wane. The new planet Eris, named after the goddess of chaos, has been discovered at a time when conser-
vation, simplification, and a new focus on community resources are urgently needed. There is already a groundswell of interest in these things as people begin to pay attention to the science regarding climate change. Perhaps Eris will usher in a mass awakening and a new tribalism based on local control and stewardship of Earth’s resources. Eris may also bring terribly chaotic circ*mstances. Some of the big questions are how easily Pluto will relinquish control, how much that we value will be destroyed in the process, and how long that will take.
Charting the Course Let’s look at some of the astrological charts that reflect key moments in this challenging chapter of human civilization. Chart 1 (opposite), the 2009 Capricorn solstice, sets the stage for the Cardinal Climax. Notice that Mars turns retrograde in Leo and opposes a conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune in Aquarius. Saturn and Pluto have begun their long square in Libra–Capricorn. Chart 2 (opposite) in August 2010 is an eye-opener: An exact t-square involving Jupiter, Mars, and Pluto is aligned with a Saturn– Uranus opposition as Hades enters Cancer. The whole summer of 2010 will be intense and transformative, but many of us may discover that we
Chart 3 June 27, 2012 2:42 a.m. EDT
have the restraint, strength of heart, and expanded consciousness we need to get through it. Chart 3 (below) shows the June 2012 grand cross of the Sun, Moon, Uranus, and Pluto, plus a t-square formed by Jupiter, the North Node, and Neptune. Chart 4 (below) illustrates a dramatic grand cross in 2014 comprised of Pluto (conjunct the Moon), Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus at 13–14° of cardinal signs; it is shown here because the U.S. Sun (July 4, 1776) is at 13°+ Cancer. This is probably a make-or-break year for all of us, due to the influence that the U.S. and its economy have on the entire world. The good news in all of this is that we are getting the cosmic alignments we need — just in time — to motivate us to overcome our collective inertia. These planetary patterns may help us as a society to make the massive changes that are imperative if we want to prevent widespread unnecessary suffering when the energy-rug is pulled out from under us in the coming years. We can work to create a sustainable, energy-conserving, locally enriched life for our families and communities. We can rise to our best to meet the challenges presented: Isn’t that what squares, t-squares, and grand crosses are all about — meeting the challenge? One of the reasons we use astrology to look ahead is so that we can be
better prepared for change — physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Of course, we can’t avoid the actual waves of change, but my view is that we can be of much more help to everyone around us if we are as informed as possible. I invite TMA readers to elaborate on this 2008–2015 time period and to offer alternate interpretations explaining why these configurations could be more gentle or less traumatic to modern civilization. (Editor’s Note: For TMA Query and Writers Guidelines, please go to our Web site: www.MountainAstrologer.com)
References and Notes 1. See Ed Gillam’s two-part article on Pluto in Capricorn in The Mountain Astrologer, Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006 and Feb./March 2006. 2. See TMA, Oct./Nov. 2005, for more information about these transneptunians and, specifically, the Gary Christen interview (in the Mercury Direct section of that issue) for more on Hades, which is associated with depth, decay, mean and disgusting things, sickness, poverty, that which is taboo, the occult, antiquity, and what is deeply buried. Hades moves about one degree per year. 3. Kunstler’s recent talk to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco gives the latest information on what we are up against. For an audio file and a transcript, see: http://globalpublicme dia.com/james_howard_kunstler_remarks_to_ the_commonwealth_club_of_california continued on page 86
Chart 4 April 20, 2014 8:31 p.m. EDT
June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 25
Empire or Community Globalization and Relocalization in the 21st Century by Bill Herbst
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In the four-million-year history of hominid evolution, our ancestors lived on this planet mainly as small groups of hunter–foragers living in relative harmony with the natural world, just one species among millions of others. Certainly, we had bigger brains than most, and as omnivores our niche was near the top of the food chain, but our stature in the matrix of life on Earth was still fairly modest. Biological selection proceeded at its elegant, glacial pace until recently, after the appearance of our particular species — hom*o sapiens. By that time, we were genetically optimized to live in extended social families, often matrilineal in organization and usually pantheistic in spirituality. With the onset of agriculture and the gradual shift away from fertile earth-goddesses toward a more distant monotheism, the social order changed. As human settlements increased in population, formerly egalitarian cultures operating through sharing, partnering, and mutual protection gave way to authoritarian societies based on ownership, possession, wealth, stratification into classes, and aggressive patriarchy. Cultural conditioning supplanted genetics as the driving force of our collective evolution, with commerce our most fundamental activity.
Over the last millennium, and especially during the past two centuries, the powers of civilization grew exponentially. In the rush to manifest dreams of abundance, convenience, and comfort, we human beings saw ourselves as rulers over nature. Although many social philosophers and theologians counseled a responsible dominion, business preferred total freedom for exploitation. Commercial interests, especially among industrialists and land developers, lobbied for an untrammeled, anythinggoes opportunism. The natural world was widely seen as having no inherent value other than providing economic resources for human use. We threw caution to the winds with a stunning disregard for repercussions, plundering this garden planet for our own short-term gain, to the point of the Earth’s (and our) impending ruin. The crises we now face cross all political, cultural, and spiritual boundaries. Humanity’s reign may prove tragically brief indeed, if we are unable or unwilling to change how we live. The changes needed are unlikely to be chosen by a peaceful awakening of foresighted wisdom. No, if we make the changes at all, they will almost certainly be the product of much pain, suffering, and conflict. Nevertheless, we would do well to prepare as best we can by realistically considering our options. This article focuses on one significant choice among many in our making the necessary adjustment: continued corporate globalization versus relocalization by revitalizing relatively autonomous human-scale communities. Can astrology tell us anything about the possibilities for such a major reform of modern society and culture over the next century? It can — but we need to set the scene first by looking at the astrological factors that help us to understand how we collectively arrived at the current crossroads.
Civilizational Astrology
As concerns mount for the future of humanity, a subdiscipline within astrology that might be called “Civilizational Astrology” is rapidly gaining traction. Though this is not a new arena of study, by any means, interest in the astrology of civilization is increasing, due to
Far and away the most important technique in Civilizational Astrology is the study of paired outer-planet cycles. the obvious dangers we already face and the emerging crises in the decade ahead. Numerous astrological techniques can be used to glean information about our shared evolution, including the precession of the equinoxes (the “Ages” in astrology) and the changing sign positions of various slow-moving outer bodies in the solar system (such as Pluto leaving Sagittarius and entering Capricorn in 2008). Each of those techniques is well known, but they are limited in the amount of information and insight they reveal. Far and away the most important technique is the study of paired outerplanet cycles. Any two planets from Jupiter outward can be charted and examined to reveal characteristic cultural meanings and timing of shifts in the archetype field that synchronize to their cycles’ quarterly phase changes. Primary among these are the six paired cycles between Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. These six cycles form the backbone of Civilizational Astrology. Their individual phase changes and sporadically concurrent multiple alignments reveal the grand panorama of the collective human struggle to adapt and change, to fulfill our shared dreams, to grow beyond illusion into maturity, and to deal with reality both as it is and as it might become. Over the modern epoch since the mid-19th century, seven critical outerplanet alignments have stood out in bold relief, with another just around the corner in the 2010s. All these include nearly simultaneous cycles involving combinations of the four outermost planets mentioned above. Taken in sequence, these configurations define passages that mark significant astrological turning points in the dramatic acceleration of civilization, for better or for worse.
The Sidebar (p. 28) lists the major outer-planet alignments, their respective periods (using 10° orbs), and a brief synopsis of just a few of their more obvious correspondences to historical events and social changes.
Neptune–Pluto: Background Resonance
For civilization, the most encompassing outer-planet cycle is Neptune– Pluto; at almost 500 years from one conjunction to the next, this is the longest cycle between bodies in the solar system that represent primary astrological archetypes. Longer cycles exist among more minor symbols, but they have neither the breadth of scope nor depth of meaning that characterizes Neptune–Pluto. This cycle charts the upwelling of humanity’s deepest dreams, our longing to harness power (Pluto) toward the manifestation of collective fantasies (Neptune). Who among us has not had the sleeping dream of flight, of magically rising into the air to soar, loosed from the bounds of gravity? After we achieved powered flight in the 20th century, space travel through the solar system and beyond took over that niche in human imagination. Our dreams have always been the repository for visions of shining cities, great personal wealth or power, perfect health or immortality, and possession of beautiful objects (including other human beings). Since Neptune has a cycle around the ecliptic of about 165 years, while Pluto takes 245 years, their bi-millennial conjunctions equate almost precisely to three Neptune and two Pluto orbits. As a result, their cycles align closely from one to the next, with each successive conjunction occurring about 5° further in the zodiac. In addition, their oppositions occur on the same sign axis as their conjunctions, and their quarterly phase changes occur in signs of the same modality. This means that six full cycles, encompassing almost 3,000 years’ total duration, are required to advance Neptune–Pluto forward by one sign or axis and into a different zodiacal mode. Since the beginnings of civilization, the movement of the Neptune–Pluto June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 27
Major Outer-Planet Alignments, 1847–2020 1847–1854: Uranus conjunct Pluto • in the last degrees of Aries • 1850–1853: Saturn forms a triple conjunction with Uranus and Pluto in late Aries/early Taurus The Industrial Revolution gears up with steam-powered ships and worldwide building of railroads. Cumulative advances in invention and production of modern weapons change warfare forever. Radical theories in natural sciences, politics, and economics. The Taiping Rebellion kills 20 million in China.
1883–1900: Neptune conjunct Pluto
• 1914: As Uranus closes out its opposition to Neptune, Saturn conjoins Pluto in Cancer Revolution in the arts. Fascination with presumed benefits for humanity of industry and technology. Accelerated international emigration and demographic population shifts from rural to urban. The end of royal dynasties in China. Imperial militarism in Europe and the eruption of World War I.
1928–1937: Uranus Last Quarter square Pluto • in cardinal signs, from Aries to Cancer
• in mid Gemini
• with five partile passes in 1932–1934
• with three partile passes in 1891–1892
• 1930–1931: Saturn in Capricorn forms a cardinal t-square
• 1889–1890: Saturn in Virgo forms a First Quarter square to both • 1900: The alignment ends with two dominant oppositions — Saturn opposite Neptune and Uranus opposite Pluto on the Sagittarius/Gemini axis The end of the Victorian era and the beginning of the modern age. Industry and invention, mainly for pragmatic purposes of travel and convenience (electric lights, internal-combustion engines). The rise of corporate power. Idealized dreams of modernity.
1899–1905: Uranus opposite Pluto • on the Sagittarius/Gemini axis
• 1931: Jupiter conjoins Pluto while Neptune moves into the semi-square/ sesquiquadrate stress point, forming a grand alignment of major outer planets • 1936–1937: As the Uranus–Pluto square ends, Saturn opposes Neptune from Pisces to Virgo The Great Depression. In the United States, onset of FDR’s New Deal social welfare and the labor union movement. In Germany, decay of Weimar Republic and rise of Hitler and National Socialism. Mass purges in Stalin’s Soviet Union. Revolutionary struggle for control of China. Initial planning for economic globalization.
• 1900: a grand opposition of all major outer planets, with Pluto and Neptune in Gemini opposed by Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, and Uranus in Sagittarius
1961–1970: Uranus conjunct Pluto
Shocks in science as the Newtonian universe is challenged by Einstein’s theory of relativity, which paves the way to quantum physics. The era of powered flight begins. Continued stirrings of radical politics and social discontent.
• 1965–1967: Saturn in Pisces opposes both planets during the exact period of the partile Uranus–Pluto conjunctions, making that three-planet opposition the most precise, polarized, and concentrated configuration of the 20th century
1903–1915: Uranus opposite Neptune • on the Cancer/Capricorn axis • with eleven partile passes in 1906– 1910, the maximum number possible between Uranus and Neptune • 1908–1910: Saturn in Aries forms the focus of a cardinal t-square with Uranus and Neptune
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• in mid Virgo • with three partile passes in 1965–1966
Rise of grassroots movements toward social equality through civil rights and feminism. The appearance of ecology and systems biology as scientific disciplines; the beginnings of widespread concern for the environment. Political assassinations in the U.S. The Cultural Revolution in China. The sexual revolution and psychedelic drugs. The Vietnam War. Woodstock and the Moon landings. Polarization
between revolutions: in culture — alternative lifestyles vs. social conformity; in agriculture — small-scale organic farming vs. corporate agribusiness; in medicine — traditional/natural holism vs. technological/ pharmaceutical allopathy.
1988–1998: Uranus conjunct Neptune • in Capricorn • with three partile passes in 1993 • 1988–1990: The period begins as a triple conjunction with Saturn • 1997–2001: As Uranus and Neptune pull out of orb after a decade, Saturn makes First Quarter squares to both, first to Neptune (from Aries) and then to Uranus (from Taurus) Collapse of the Soviet Union. Proliferation of consumer technology, especially personal computers. Networking the planet through the Internet and cell phones. Economic globalization by transnational corporations. Rise of religious fundamentalism as a political and social force.
2007–2020: Uranus First Quarter square Pluto • Alignment begins in late mutable signs, from Pisces to Sagittarius, then moves into cardinal signs, from Aries to Capricorn • with seven partile passes in 2012– 2015, the maximum number possible for any Uranus–Pluto alignment • 2010–2011: Saturn forms a t-square from late Virgo into early Libra, with Pluto at the apex (the so-called Cardinal Climax) • 2011: Neptune moves to the semisquare/sesquiquadrate stress point in a grand alignment similar to the cardinal t-square in the 1930s • 2014–2015: Uranus–Pluto square from Aries to Capricorn forms a cardinal grand cross with the July 4, 1776 U.S. chart’s Sun–Saturn square from Cancer to Libra, again resonating with the 1930s alignment • 2019–2020: Saturn conjoins Pluto in Capricorn and then squares Uranus in Aries as the Uranus–Pluto alignment ends
cycle through the zodiac has followed a steady progression: Aquarius (fixed): 10200 B.C.E. – 7300 B.C.E. Pisces (mutable): 7300 B.C.E. – 4400 B.C.E. Aries (cardinal): 4400 B.C.E. – 1500 B.C.E. Taurus (fixed): 1500 B.C.E. – 1400 C.E. Gemini (mutable): 1400 C.E. – 4300 C.E. Initially, in the Aquarian and Piscean periods of human myth-making (called the Stone Age in history), social groups emerged that were matrilineal in organization, loosely egalitarian, and still based around relatively small communities. During the Aries phase (Bronze Age), communities grew into towns and cities. Patriarchal hierarchies emerged here, as did territorial conquest and the subjugation or enslavement of formerly autonomous groups. Banking
For civilization, the most encompassing outer-planet cycle is Neptune–Pluto. developed in Mesopotamian temples as a way of centralizing the exchange of goods. During the Taurus phase (Iron Age) of Neptune–Pluto dreams, control of land was unified, first into city-states, then into kingdoms and theocracies. Money itself was invented in China, initially as cowrie mollusk shells, then later as precious metals minted into coins. Starting in the 14th century — with the onset of the Renaissance in Europe, the Ming Dynasty in China, consolidation of the Russias under Ivan the Great, and the Samurai ruling class in Japan — the Neptune–Pluto cycle entered the current Gemini phase, where it will remain for another two millennia from today. Since the current phase began, we’ve had two conjunctions of Neptune and Pluto in Gemini, one opposi-
tion on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis (and another to come in the 22nd century), with three intermediate quarterly transitions in either Sagittarius/Pisces or Gemini/Pisces. The significance of these positions is revealing. The entire Gemini phase of Neptune–Pluto activates wanderlust — dreams of mobility, travel, and exploration. Indeed, “discovery” of the New World, linking the cultures of Eurasia and the Americas, occurred less than one century after the onset of the Gemini phase. Also emphasized is intellectual curiosity in discovering how the world is put together. Science emerged here and has developed rapidly since the Gemini phase began. Human ingenuity and invention are all brought to the foreground of our collective yearning. We want to know — by analysis, categorization, and disassembly. The presence in the cycles of the mutable signs Sagittarius and Pisces implies pursuit of truth through grand ideas and philosophies, as well as the emotional components of metaphysical faith and belief. Contrasts between
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Empire or Community science and religion are one crucible through which modern culture has been shaped. Basic conflicts between these two very different approaches to knowing will likely continue, although they may eventually find a complementary basis in mutual support. Already, the paradoxes of quantum physics have given rise to parallels with certain ancient spiritual insights of Taoism and Buddhism, inspiring some physicists and theologians to join hands. Many physical scientists and Christian fundamentalists, however, still find themselves on opposite and mutually exclusive sides of the cosmic fence over issues such as biological evolution, the origins of humanity, and the age of the Earth. (Personally, I go with science on those questions, flat out.) Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces also reveal that limitless horizons of possibility are now at the center of our collective dreams of empowerment. Knowledge is power, and anything that can be created will be, for better or worse. Crucially, however, the fourth mutable sign, Virgo, is absent from any influence in current and future alignments of Neptune and Pluto in this phase. The missing element of earth in the mutable quartet means that our collective fantasies tend to be ungrounded, lacking any reference to Virgoan understanding of whole, integrated systems. The very cleverness of our big brains may prove to be our undoing. Over recent centuries, humans have explored, theorized, extracted, experimented, and manufactured with wild abandon but without any sense of organic wholeness. We refine, recombine, or synthesize anything we can — regardless of the consequences. The current tinkering with nature that is rampant in the chemical, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries resembles nothing so much as Dr. Frankenstein and his creature. Enough virulent biological toxins are stored in laboratories around the world to kill all of humanity many times over, and the same applies
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to our rapidly degrading arsenals of nuclear warheads. Respect and reverence for the natural world have been supplanted by our eagerness to manipulate, alter, and reshape the Earth for our own purposes. In our insatiable curiosity and childlike eagerness to wield power, we have fallen headlong into the trap of the sorcerer’s apprentice. Given that the current types of dreams flooding up from the collective unconscious are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future, do other major outer-planet cycles offer an alternative or countervailing symbolism? While both of the shorter Uranus–Neptune and Uranus–Pluto cycles provide a contrast to the longer and more subtle tonal background of Neptune–Pluto, it is specifically in the Uranus–Pluto configurations that we find a significant and challenging counterpoint.
Uranus–Pluto and the Choice of Worlds: Empire or Community
Whereas Neptune–Pluto charts the collective impact of our shared dreams, Uranus–Pluto reveals the collective power of our social, scientific, political, and economic revolutions. Cultural changes during Neptune–Pluto periods typically work by osmosis, filtering through social structures that remain at least superficially stable. The new is quickly integrated. Uranus–Pluto activations, however, are radical and shocking. The existing shared beliefs that hold society together are challenged, and cultural institutions are broken down by revolutionary attitudes that emerge from the depths of collective consciousness like magma spewed from a volcanic eruption. Old and new worlds collide in tectonic crashes. Social upheaval is the result. The bipolar symbolism of Uranus, which is akin to alternating current in electricity, combines with the archetype of Pluto’s deep-seated raw power for destruction and renewal to indicate simultaneous but contradictory revolutions that coexist despite their seeming mutual exclusivity. Uranus and Pluto together imply the sudden appearance of new expressions of deep power welling up out of nature or from collective humanity. This can take the form of coercive power used by an elite over the
masses through brute force, biased legislation, or, more subtly, the psychological mind control of propaganda. It can also mean grassroots uprisings, where people band together to take power, throw off their shackles, and challenge the status quo through social revolt. In their most archetypal forms, one direction of Uranus–Pluto eruptions is related to Empire, and the other is connected to Community. Both empire and community are methods of social organization with deep roots in history and human nature, although they could hardly be more different in their meaning and shape. Empire is based on ownership of land and resources, with economic productivity and money as primary values, along with competition, conquest, and domination. Perpetual growth is a necessity, with gargantuan size a desired result. Empires are monolithic, imposing themselves on the environment. Power is amassed and concentrated within a vertical hierarchy of command and control, where standardization and conformity promote economic efficiency. Empire stratifies culture into classes and dictates the limits of social mobility. The celebration of empire occurs through spectacles meant to inspire awe and to be viewed vicariously by their populations. Community is defined mainly by location or interests shared in common. It may be based on private ownership, communally shared property, or a combination of both. Cooperation is a key value, as is mutual protection. Organization is dispersed and decentralized, with a more horizontal or egalitarian social structure. Scale remains limited and local, with renewal preferable to growth. Communities are diverse, able to exist independently as towns or, within larger cities, as neighborhoods. Their development is based on the specific eco-regions they inhabit. Each community is relatively autonomous and different from others, but they connect through a rhizome-like network of interconnections, to share their various commercial products and unique cultural styles. The celebration of community occurs through festivals meant to inspire joy, with active participation by the populace.1
Empire and Globalization
Empire emerged over the past 5,000 years and holds sway in the current structuring of civilization. Patriarchal, plutocratic, and impersonal, empire works through institutions — in the past, this meant governments of city- or nationstates and their bureaucratic social organizations, backed by military force should economic power alone prove lacking. The dominant institutions are either owned or run by an elite group of individuals. Political scientist and longtime researcher Thomas Dye has found that the power to dictate major economic and sociopolitical policy decisions in the United States is concentrated in the hands of a mere 8,000 individuals out of a population of 300 million.2 Anyone educated in history is familiar with empires from antiquity, such as the Egyptian and Chinese Dynasties, the Roman Empire, and the European empires of Portugal, Spain, France, and Great Britain that flourished during the 15th–19th centuries. However, modern imperialism goes beyond nation-states to include transnational corporations. These specialized entities, which are commercial in charter and only political or social to achieve their economic aims, took hold during the massive industrialization of the second half of the 19th century through the phenomenal growth of various industries: railroads, lumber, mining, steel, oil, textiles, and banking, among others. Initially modest infusions of speculative capital by individuals, aided by governments, produced astonishing profits, creating the Gilded Age of the Robber Barons. Incredible private fortunes were built as individual entrepreneurs (Uranus) pumped the well of collective resources (Pluto). Industrial expansion continued far into the 20th century in the automotive, armaments, agricultural, chemical, and construction industries. Sometimes, 20th-century industries were capitalistic, as in the U.S.; other times, they were state-run, as in the communist (or, more accurately, totalitarian) Soviet Union. Whatever “ism” they operated under, however, such industrial empires were all centralized and hierarchical and always abetted by government largesse. Together, government and busi-
Community is defined mainly by location or interests shared in common. ness milked the Earth of her amazing abundance; the cream was reserved for and ladled off by those at the top of the pyramid, while the diluted skim milk trickled down toward the base. Disparity of wealth is a hallmark of empire; even today, half the population of humanity — more than three billion people — lives in dire poverty, subsisting on an income of less than $2 per day. For about a billion of those individuals, chronic hunger is a fact of daily existence. Earlier empires used military conquest as their initial means of expansion, followed by colonization (to siphon off resources and products) and subjugation of conquered populations. Contemporary empires still maintain armies and use invasion by force, but their preferred method of expansion now centers around perpetual growth of profitable economic activity through penetration of new markets for commercial goods and services, plus the free movement of capital to maximize efficiency in reducing costs of production and labor. That sentence is a mouthful, but it basically means: Sell more, pay less to do it, grow in size, and increase profits, presumably forever.
This is called Globalization, the removal of all boundaries and limits to commercial development, creating a global marketplace that functions as the equivalent of a local market but on a massive scale designed to accommodate corporations rather than people. Though the roots of economic globalization go back to the 1930s, its implementation was fervently embraced by big business when the current Uranus–Neptune cycle of revolutionary dreams kicked off in Capricorn during the 1990s.
Community and Relocalization
On the other side of civilization’s coin is community, which can be traced back to the earliest hunter–forager tribes of our distant past. Current accounts of history and even prehistory would lead one to assume that empire is the natural order, since the melodramas of wealth, war, and conflict have so captured our imagination. Communal societies are all but overlooked. In fact, however, cooperative sharing in relative peacefulness is much more ancient and deeply embedded in our genetic heritage. Empire is actually a very recent development in anthropology, almost an aberration, like a viral infection, calling forth the extremes in human nature. Evidence suggests that both agriculture and animal husbandry were known and understood by our ancestors, but they did not choose those ways of living until forced to do so by climate change. As long as we lived in smaller cooperative groups, humans found it much easier to live off nature’s abundance rather than be chained to the labor-intensive requirements of farming. At the end of the Pleistocene Ice Ages, however, global warming of tropical regions and resulting desertification forced human beings to seek out fertile land near rivers and deltas, settle into permanent villages, and begin full-time agriculture. By intensifying our labors to grow food rather than find it, we culled from nature sufficient nutrition to support the larger populations drawn to a central food source. In community, we know well, or are at least familiar with, most others in our small group. In larger societies, however, people inevitably become strangers to each other, increasing our anxiety. June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 31
Empire or Community Authority takes over, promising to provide security and stability — but at a profound cost. Equality is replaced by hierarchy. Active cooperation is replaced by passive obedience. The balance of masculine and feminine expression, so essential to community and our genetic heritage, is disrupted. Personal warmth and feminine nurturing end up confined to home and family, while the impersonal structures of masculine patriarchy are institutionalized, running society as a whole. Throughout much of the past five millennia, communal groups continued to flourish, usually beyond the reach of empire or in areas that empire regarded as devoid of resources. That changed when Neptune–Pluto’s Gemini phase of exploration began 600 years ago, and it accelerated dramatically over the past 200 years, when the Industrial Revolution geared up and humanity’s population spiked upward. When empires come into contact (and conflict) with communal societies, empire wins. Consider the extermination of Native American cultures during the 19th century through the justification of “manifest destiny.” Similarly, the 20th century saw the worldwide decimation of what few indigenous populations of communitybased societies remained, as their ecoregions were invaded and overrun for resource exploitation, the geopolitical maneuverings of empire, or simply the encroachment of larger populations. In a quite different example, the demolition in the 1960s of New York City’s Penn Station also demonstrates empire’s callous disregard for community. Built in 1910 atop an underground railway terminal, Penn Station was the finest example of Beaux Arts architecture, a magnificent building whose aesthetic beauty and cathedral-like inner spaces thrilled New Yorkers. In 1961, the Pennsylvania Railroad, in league with developers and moneyed interests, announced plans to demolish the structure and replace it with Madison Square Garden, a sports and entertainment complex. Hundreds of civic orga-
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Modern imperialism goes beyond nation-states to include transnational corporations. nizations, neighborhood groups, and architects’ guilds organized a concerted protest, but to no avail. Penn Station was demolished. The diverse communities embedded in New York City suffered an incalculable loss, but the financial elite who ran the city cared not a whit. As befits the Uranus–Pluto activation of that decade, however, the historic preservation movement was born out of that struggle.
Size Matters: Large versus Small Scale
Right now, the relationship of community to empire is mythically equivalent to the situation at the end of the Cretaceous period of life evolution, when tiny mammals scurried about on the floor of primeval forests and savanna grasslands, trying to avoid being stepped on by huge dinosaurs, which still ruled the world at that point. That analogy is flawed, of course. Community is not a new development, as mammalian species were — community predates empire by millions of years, while mammals appeared after dinosaurs — but communities have been pushed out, overwhelmed, and reduced to a small niche in the rapidly changing social environment of imperial civilization. Like early mammals, they continue to survive only because of their small size and relative invisibility. Just as the dinosaurs’ gargantuan size allowed them to dominate in a world of stable climate and abundant food, so the huge scale of empire has triumphed in civilization up to now. And, just as the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago by a major disruption in the natural environment, where their size and inability to adapt proved fatal, so the 5,000-year run of empire may soon end in collapse due to another disruption of previously favorable ecologies, both natural and social. This time, the catastrophe is less likely to occur from a meteor collision or super-
volcanic eruption than from the results of empire’s colossal scale and inherently rapacious appetites. We have become the proverbial dragon eating our own tail. Numerous crises loom just ahead, including imminent exhaustion of natural resources (not just peak oil but, more importantly, soil depletion and watershed destruction), increasing toxic waste from wars and poisonous industrial byproducts, as well as unsustainable economic and financial systems. Even at the height of its powers, empire has been digging its own grave and now faces extinction. Admittedly, empire will not give up without a fight, and not just because of the elites in power. We are all part of empire — plugged into the electrical grid, driving automobiles, and resistant to giving up our habitual conveniences. Hybrid vehicles and renewable biofuels are now hot topics, but such “solutions” do nothing to solve the problems of resource depletion and industrial toxins, since cars themselves are the problem. Rebuilding our railroads and waterways for efficient mass transit is barely discussed, however. In this and other arenas — especially politics, economics, and mass media — the myths of modern empire stubbornly hold us in their thrall. Great debates lie ahead concerning the uses of science and technology in transportation, the military, medicine, and agriculture. If we continue down the roads we’ve traveled in those areas over the past halfcentury, our future appears dim indeed. On the other hand, we’re not going back to hunter–gatherer groups, either. The “back to the land” communal experiments of the 1850s and 1960s (during the last two Uranus–Pluto cycle births) were utopian, naïve, and Luddite. Permaculture eco-villages will be nothing like the early settlements of our ancestral lineage, nor will our reconstituted towns, cities, and urban enclaves resemble sentimental images of America’s small-town past. To be viable, relocalization must integrate modern technologies and new social structures customized for each community and bio-region, unlike empire’s one-size-fits-all approach. We can look back through history and prehistory for basic designs, but they will require
more sophisticated and contemporary implementation.
The 2010s: Disintegration and Awakening
The youthful movements that were birthed (or rebirthed) during the Uranus– Pluto conjunction of the 1960s — ecology, feminism, social equality, peace, reduced consumption, and sustainability — are about to move from the fringes to the center. Uranus–Pluto’s First Quarter square will bring crises that cause those movements to re-emerge after their 50-year gestation, during which they went underground in culture while slowly gathering strength. Now those movements are ready to grow again into fuller, more mature manifestation, called forth by sudden breakdowns in empire. Political, economic, and cultural landscapes are about to change dramatically. The year 2007 marks the transition into this reawakening of alternate possibilities. Although the confusion and passivity of the Saturn–Neptune opposition peaks in June and takes another year to
We are all part of empire, resistant to giving up our habitual conveniences. fade out, the leading edge of radical consciousness appears on the scene. Uranus reaches the initial 10-degree orb of its square to Pluto in May, and Saturn begins its four-year opposition to Uranus in November 2007. Look for a steady rise in public outrage concerning the inactivity and unresponsiveness of those who hold the reins of power. By the U.S. presidential election of November 2008, discontent with the status quo will have struck a resonant chord. As the t-square of Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto activates from late 2009 through 2011, any of various triggers could provoke breakdowns in social stability. History tells us that empires become most dangerous as they decline, resorting to ever more extreme measures in desperate attempts to maintain
control. We are in that fading period of the American Empire, and the years ahead may be daunting. Critical mass is reached in June 2012, when Uranus and Pluto make their first partile square. The rest of the decade should be turbulent indeed. A particularly dark shadow will be cast when Uranus and Pluto form a cardinal grand cross with the Sun and Saturn in the July 4, 1776, U.S. natal chart. Over the 200+ year history of the United States, whenever two outer planets in Aries and Capricorn formed a grand cross with the U.S. natal Sun in Cancer square natal Saturn in Libra, the corresponding economic event was a Great Depression: in the 1790s, 1840s, 1870s, and 1930s.3 The next one up is in 2014–2015.
Reasons for Optimism
Many reasons for optimism exist. We may be at the beginning of a new awakening in mass consciousness that will gradually grow through the 2040s, when Uranus reaches its opposition to continued on page 82
June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 33
Mars, War, and the 2008 Election by Philip Brown
I
n a world fi lled with confl ict, the planet Mars has taken on renewed importance. The Mars of the United States is about to be powerfully affected by transits and progressions. Mars in the U.S. horoscope (for July 4, 1776) recently went retrograde by secondary progression for the fi rst time in the nation’s history.1 In 2008, the intense transiting opposition of Saturn and Uranus in Virgo–Pisces will square the U.S. Mars in Gemini. Pluto will soon be entering Capricorn, the sign of Mars’s exaltation. And Mars features prominently in solar ingress charts leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In addition, the 2008 election will coincide with a transiting Mars–Neptune square in Scorpio–Aquarius. Both the Saturn–Uranus opposition and the Mars– Neptune square will have a decided impact on the next U.S. presidential election and on the horoscopes of several presidential candidates. Forming a background for these alignments is the Iraq War — in many ways an embodiment of the U.S. Mars–Neptune square. My article in the Dec. 2003/Jan. 2004 issue of The Mountain Astrologer looked at the role of Neptune in the Iraq War and forecast diffi cult times ahead. The war began in 2003 when Saturn conjoined the U.S. Mars in Gemini and squared the U.S. Neptune in Virgo. In 2008, Saturn in Virgo will be squaring that same Mars — and hitting the U.S. Neptune. These coming alignments indicate the challenges and diffi culties the Iraq War will still pose to the U.S. fi ve years after the war began. 34 www.mountainastrologer.com
Mars, the Planet of War In mundane astrology, Mars is the planet of war, aggression, and the armed forces of a nation.2 Mars in a national horoscope does not readily exhibit the smoother edges of Mars in some personal horoscopes, where a strongly placed Mars can vent its energy on something useful, like driving race cars or becoming a surgeon. Mars features prominently in the charts of countries that place a great emphasis on their military strength. The horoscopes for both North Korea and Nazi Germany have a powerful Mars (charts not shown). North Korea has Mars in Scorpio conjunct the South Node, showing this country’s obsession with a strong military. In the horoscope for Nazi Germany, retrograde Mars in Virgo is conjunct the enlarging influence of Jupiter, while Uranus in Aries tightly quincunx Mars was a source of friction for the Third Reich’s Red Planet. An elevated 10th-house Aquarius Mercury (conjunct Saturn) disposits Mars in this chart. Mars is exalted in Capricorn in the so-called Scorpionic America chart, and this aptly describes the U.S., where military spending accounts for more than half of the nation’s federal discretionary budget.3 This large budget has enabled the U.S. to build armaments that, in strictly military terms, are second to none.
Mars’s red color and its mythology have long been associated with events that involve anger, passion, and war. Recent photos sent from the Mars robots show a desolate, rust-colored landscape with wispy, orange-tinted ice clouds. It looks like an iconic battlefield, an Earth laid waste.4 Perhaps these scenes are the metaphoric effects of an unbridled Mars. Mark Antony invoked the full destructive force of Mars when he prophesized about Rome in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a very martial play: Blood and destruction shall be so in use And dreadful objects so familiar That mothers shall but smile when they behold Their infants quarter’d with the hands of war; All pity choked with custom of fell deeds …5
William Lilly relates Mars to furnaces and places where bricks or charcoal are burned.6
Which U.S. Horoscope? Mars in the U.S. horoscope has strongly influenced America’s war policies and military decisions for as long as the nation has existed. However, there is still nothing even close to agreement on
the true U.S. horoscope. Although there are staunch proponents for each of the various U.S. horoscopes, I will be examining Mars in two of them: the Sibly chart and the chart for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation — otherwise known as the Scorpionic America horoscope. Looking at multiple horoscopes for important milestones in the creation of a nation can allow for a fuller, more nuanced astrological picture. My references to the Sibly chart will be to planets in signs and degrees, not houses, so in fact any chart for July 4, 1776 will work for these purposes. I have also found that the Scorpionic America chart is very accurate when using progressions and analyzing recent events.
Mars in the U.S. Horoscopes The U.S. Mars in Gemini (Sibly chart) shows a nation that has a strong interest in doing many things but has difficulty focusing on one thing for very long and a tendency to look at pieces rather than the whole (see Chart 1, below). Mars in Gemini can gain strength from information, and that is precisely what was lacking (or manipulated) in the run-up to the Iraq War. At the start of the war, Saturn conjoined the U.S. Sibly Mars (and squared the U.S. Neptune) while transiting Mars squared the U.S. Saturn — a double Mars–Saturn whammy.
Chart 1: U.S. Sibly
Charts use Placidus houses and the Mean Node.
June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 35
Mars, War, and the 2008 Election In the Sibly chart, Mars squares Neptune. When this square is activated by transit or progression, it can denote a lack of clarity coupled with an aggressive response (see the Table: Mars Timeline, below). When Saturn hit the U.S. Sibly Mars in March 2003 — and simultaneously squared the U.S. Neptune — we sent armed forces into Baghdad for what was supposed to be a “cakewalk.”7 All three of these planets — Mars, Saturn, and Neptune — were active at the inception of the Iraq War. In 2008, the Saturn–Uranus opposition will square the U.S. Sibly Mars
(with Saturn conjoining Neptune), once more bringing these planets into prominence in the affairs of the nation. Another recent astrological trigger of martial energy worth mentioning is transiting Pluto’s opposition to the Sibly Mars, an especially close opposition at the start of the Iraq War in 2003 that became exact as the Iraqi insurgency grew in 2004. Turning to the Scorpionic America chart (see Chart 2, opposite), we find Mars conjoining the South Node: The U.S. keeps unconsciously acting out the past, fighting the previous war.
Mars Retrograde Mars recently went retrograde by secondary progression in the U.S. Sibly horoscope for the first time in the
Table: Mars Timeline Event
Date
U.S. Mars Alignments
War of 1812
War declared against Great Britain on June 18, 1812
Uranus quincunx U.S. Mars; Pluto square Mars (Sibly); transiting Pluto stationary retrograde exact on June 18
Civil War — tide turns against the Confederates
June–July 1863
Uranus conjunct Mars (Sibly)
War declared against Spain after the USS Maine is blown up
April 25, 1898
Neptune conjunct Mars (Sibly)
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
Jupiter conjunct Mars; Sun opposing Mars; Neptune square Mars (Sibly)
Start of U.S. intervention and buildup of military forces in the Korean War
July–August 1950
Saturn square Mars (Sibly)
JFK assassination
November 22, 1963
Mars–Venus conjunction opposing Mars (Sibly); nodal axis return, with South Node hitting Mars (Scorpionic America)
Desert Storm (first Iraq “Gulf” war)
January 15, 1991
Uranus and Neptune both conjunct Mars (Scorpionic America)
World Trade Center/ Pentagon attacks
September 11, 2001
Jupiter opposing Mars, conjoining the nodal axis (Scorpionic America); Uranus trine Mars (Sibly)
Iraq War
March 19, 2003
Saturn conjunct Mars and square Neptune; Mars square Saturn (Sibly)
36 www.mountainastrologer.com
nation’s history. (Secondary progression advances the birth planets by one year per day of the actual calendar.) The progressed U.S. Mars will remain retrograde for 80 years. Progressed Mars retrograde does not happen that often; Mars goes retrograde only once every two years in the regular calendar. This could signify that the nation is entering into a long period of innerdirected aggression — in the form of more domestic policing, tighter homeland and border security, and greater citizen vigilance.
Mars in Cancer Mars takes about two years to orbit the Sun, staying approximately oneand-a-half months in each sign, except for the six months when it lingers in a sign by slowing down and going retrograde. Starting in late September 2007, Mars will move into Cancer and spend about six months in that sign (briefly retrograding back into Gemini during that time). True, Mars transits Cancer every two years, but it rarely goes retrograde and spends almost half a year in the same sign as the nation’s (Sibly) Sun. (The two most recent instances of Mars going retrograde in Cancer occurred in 1960–61 and 1992–93.)8 Throughout Mars’s lengthier sojourn in Cancer, martial energy will be hitting the U.S. Sibly planets in Cancer: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. In a synchronous alignment with the U.S. horoscope, transiting Mars will be stationary retrograde when it hits the U.S. Sun in mid November 2007; then it will station direct on January 30, 2008, when it will be less than 3° away from the U.S. Mars. If we look at how Mars in Cancer affects the Scorpionic America chart, there is an equally striking alignment: Mars will cross over the North Node in November 2007 and oppose the Scorpionic America Mars as it goes retrograde. Again, this indicates that martial energy will be strongly influencing the U.S. as the country moves into the early presidential primaries. The retrograde motion of Mars symbolizes the re-evaluation and reconsideration of military force and the Iraq War — already powerful issues that dominate the daily news headlines.
Saturn–Uranus The Saturn–Uranus opposition of 2008 — which will square the Sibly Mars — is part of the cycle that began with the Saturn–Uranus conjunction shortly before the 1988 election of George H. W. Bush. That conjunction coincided with the breakup of the USSR, which in turn led to the destabilization of the old world order. We are now coming to the opposition point of that cycle. Alexander Ruperti, in Cycles of Becoming, wrote of the Saturn–Uranus cycle: “Habit patterns will always resist change and when the pressure of some creative challenge is felt, the ego will experience a sense of impending doom, generating fear and resisting change.”9 Saturn opposing Uranus stirs up the conflict between preservation of the status quo and radical change — a battle of the past versus the future being fought in the arena of the present. This cycle has a disruptive effect. It is a harbinger of dramatic social change, marking a dependence on the past opposed by radical transformation that would “destroy that part of the past which is essential to the future.”10 There was a Saturn–Uranus opposition in 1919–1920 and again in the mid 1960s. Both of these times were marked by radical transition and major transformation throughout the world. The Saturn–Uranus opposition in 1919–20 was in the late degrees of
Chart 2: Scorpionic America
the Leo–Aquarius axis and the early degrees of Virgo–Pisces. The 1919–20 Saturn–Uranus opposition came within 3° of squaring the U.S. Sibly Uranus, while Saturn (in Leo) conjoined the Scorpionic America Jupiter. In 1920, the world was recovering from World War I, and there was a great deal of anger about how that war had been conducted. President Woodrow Wilson, who thrust the U.S. into the conflict, was extremely unpopular. Post–World War I literature conveyed the angst of a young “lost generation”; the USA trilogy, by John Dos Passos, portrayed the deep animosity against Wilson. Warren Harding, now widely regarded as one of the worst U.S. presidents and whose term became mired in scandal, was elected in 1920 as a result of disaffection with the nation’s past course. Voter rebellion (Uranus) against the past (Saturn) put him in office.11 Saturn is stability — the status quo — and Uranus is the breaking or shattering of the status quo.12 We saw the same phenomenon during the Saturn–Uranus opposition in the mid 1960s. This is not to suggest that we are going to elect another Warren Harding in 2008 — just that his election embodied a rejection of the past as part of the Saturn–Uranus opposition. The same dynamics will apply to the upcoming election.
Mars and the 2008 U.S. Election On the date of the 2008 presidential election (see Chart 3, below, cast for 7:00 a.m., when the polls open, in Washington, D.C.), Saturn and Uranus will form an exact opposition — a partial planetary replay of the mid 1960s, minus Pluto (Pluto and Uranus conjoined in 1965–66). This powerful Saturn–Uranus opposition will square the U.S. Sibly Mars and hit the U.S. Neptune, thus activating the Mars–Neptune square. And with Saturn conjoining the U.S. Neptune, the nation’s illusions or ideals must face hard reality. On election day 2008, the secondary progressed Scorpionic America Sun in Cancer will oppose Mars in that chart and cross over its North Node (destiny). The Saturn–Uranus opposition will also hit several important midpoints in the Scorpionic America chart, symbolizing the difficult terrain ahead for the U.S. as it seeks to resolve a war while heading into an election. Specifically, the Saturn– Uranus opposition on election day 2008 closely squares the Sun/Mars, Saturn/ Pluto, and Mercury/Pluto midpoints in the Scorpionic America chart. Charubel was the angelic name adopted by a 19th-century astrologer and clairvoyant. He created Sabian-like word symbols for each zodiac degree, and his degree symbol for the U.S. Sibly Mars was remarkably prescient,
Chart 3: Election Day 2008 Washington, D.C.
June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 37
Mars, War, and the 2008 Election considering this planet’s current association with the Iraq War: “I see the Sun rising in his brightness. It is on the horizon, but all the other part of the sky is covered with dark clouds, over which hang the shades of a lingering night.”13 Charubel comments further about this symbol: “His [the native’s] grand schemes prove failures. His sun sets under a cloud while it is yet but morning.”14
Ingress Charts Cardinal ingress charts, cast for when the Sun first enters each of the four cardinal signs during the year, can be good prediction tools. Capricorn ingress charts are useful to preview the full year ahead.15 A Capricorn ingress chart for the end of 2007, leading into 2008, reveals five planets clustered around the cardinal axis of Cancer– Capricorn (see Chart 4, below). Mars in Cancer opposes a stellium of Pluto (in late Sagittarius) and the Sun, Jupiter, and Mercury in Capricorn. Jupiter at 0° Capricorn is partile conjunct the Sun, showing enlargement of issues surrounding the presidency (Sun) as we move into the election season. Jupiter is
also associated with ethical or legal concerns. The Saturn–Uranus opposition is somewhat wide but beginning to form. Throughout 2008, Pluto will be conjunct or in hard aspect with the Sun in all four cardinal ingress charts, meaning that power and its uses (or abuses) will be dominant issues in the national and world arenas. This could also signify a growing global awareness of the necessity to transform and empower our fragile Earth. That Mars is opposite Pluto — as well as three other planets — in the Capricorn ingress chart shows that military action (i.e., the Iraq War) will be a major issue in the election. Mars, though debilitated, is the most elevated planet in this ingress chart. However, since this chart is setting the tone for an election year, complete with primaries and the election of a new president, Mars’s position indicates that the political debate will revolve not just around the Iraq War but around the appropriate projection of military force. If we cast the chart for the 2008 Libra ingress — the last cardinal ingress before the election — we find that the Saturn–Uranus opposition has moved to the 4th-/10th-house axis (see Chart 5, below). Any planet in the 10th house of an ingress chart is key because the 10th house denotes the leader and the government, as well as national prestige. It is the most important house in mun-
dane astrology, so planets in the 10th house of an ingress chart are highly significant.16 The great British astrologer Charles Harvey wrote about the work of German astrologer E. H. Troinski.17 According to Harvey, Troinski identified thirteen patterns in ingress charts, which he claimed were worth observing and to which he attached particular importance. He said that Saturn or Uranus in the 10th house or the 4th house — with the Sun in an angular house — signified the fall or overthrow of governments, revolutions, changes of government, beginnings of new historical periods, or the death of leaders.18 All three of these factors — Saturn in the 10th house, Uranus in the 4th, and the Sun in the 10th — are present in the Libra ingress chart before the 2008 election. It will be an interesting test of Troinski’s theory.
Mars and Saturn–Uranus in 2008 Although the field of presidential candidates is crowded, we can find the Saturn–Uranus opposition influencing the horoscopes of a number of the top candidates (as of this writing) in each of the two major political parties. Several of the candidates have a strong Leo presence (Leo Sun or a Leo stellium) and will therefore be affected by the Mars– Neptune square in Scorpio–Aquarius on continued on p. 107
Chart 4:
Chart 5:
Capricorn Ingress 2007
Libra Ingress 2008
Washington, D.C.
38 www.mountainastrologer.com
Washington, D.C.
by Christine Nuwayser Davis
In 2005 and 2006, buying our first home was the top priority for my husband and me. Though it took 18 months, some 125 open houses, and one very patient buyer’s agent, we finally found our dream condominium — with plenty of help from my horary astrology studies to guide our way. As every astrologer knows, you can cast a chart for the birth time and place of just about anything. That includes people, cities, businesses, and even questions. Horary is the branch of astrology that answers pressing personal questions by casting a chart for the time and place the question is asked: its birth chart. Once you have the chart for your question — which can be on literally any topic under the sun, from relationships
to money to careers and thousands more — a close study of the condition of the planets and their receptions and aspects with one another will provide the specific answer you’re looking for. Your natal chart can show trends and tendencies, such as whether you’re likely to own real estate in your lifetime, whereas a horary chart comes straight to the point, answering the immediate question on your mind about “this property right here.” I’ll show you three of the many real estate horary charts I cast during our househunting journey. Each one illustrates how horary astrology can provide guidance as you search — and can prevent you from making some potentially costly mistakes. June/July 2007 * The Mountain Astrologer 39
Horary Astrology Question 1: Will the seller accept our offer? When you hear a horary question such as “Will we buy the house?” or “Will we sell the house?” don’t just look at the planet signifying the house to find your answer! The 4th house and its ruler tell you about the condition of the property — an undeniably useful piece of information. But what you really want to know is whether the buyer and seller will be coming to an agreement. And that requires you to look at the other party’s significator as well as your own. In October 2005, my husband and I found a house that offered many of the features we wanted. We liked the single-family space; the clean, dry basem*nt; and the two-car garage. However, the house had its drawbacks. What had once been a decent-sized kitchen had become, after renovations, a cramped, narrow galley; the house had very little yard area, bumping up into its neighbors; and trains rumbled past, morning and night, on nearby tracks. Nonetheless, we made an offer, and my husband asked, “Will we reach an agreement with the seller?”
A horary chart comes straight to the point, answering the immediate question on your mind. In any horary chart, the querent (the person asking the question) is represented by the 1st house and its ruling planet. In most cases, the querent is also represented by the Moon, unless the Moon is specifically needed to signify another character in the story. Chart 1 (below) has Gemini rising; thus, my husband and I are signified by Mercury at 5°02' Scorpio in the 6th house and the Moon at 5°16' Aquarius in the 9th. Now, since we’re talking about the purchase of a house, the 4th house of land and immovable property and the planet ruling that house can tell you about the condition of the property. In this instance, looking at the ruler of the 4th house told me something I wasn’t expecting to learn: The property (represented by the Sun, ruler of the 4th house) was in terrible shape. The Sun at 18°48' Libra is not merely in the sign of its fall, but in the 19th degree of Libra, where (according to tables of Ptolemaic dignities and debilities) the Sun is at its worst. Seeing that very negative testi-
Chart 1
Chart 2
Charts use Regiomontanus houses and the True Node.
40 www.mountainastrologer.com
mony gave me pause about the condition of our prospective new home. The 4th house and its ruler can provide critical insight into the condition of the property itself. But to answer the question, “Will we reach an agreement with the seller?” we need to look at the other party in the transaction, to see whether we can unite the buyer and the seller in some way. In this chart, the seller is represented by the 7th house and its ruler. (I used the 7th house of “any unrelated person” in this case, because the seller had no particular relationship to my husband or me. John Frawley points out: If the seller does have a specific relationship to you — your brother or your friend, for instance — you would use the appropriate house representing that relationship, such as the 3rd or the 11th, respectively.)1 So, with Sagittarius on the 7th-house cusp, the seller is signified by Jupiter at 26°56' Libra in the 5th house. Can we unite this buyer and this seller? To answer the question, we need to see if the seller’s significator, Jupiter, is about to form an aspect with either of our significators, Mercury or the Moon. But a study of the chart shows that it can’t be done. First, Mercury at 5° Scorpio makes no aspect to Jupiter at 26° Libra. Second, the Moon at 5° Aquarius would eventually trine Jupiter at 26° Libra, but that aspect is prohibited
Question 2: Is this the right house? Before you conclude that any applying aspect between your key significators will automatically give a “Yes” answer to your question, consider this. Both parties have to be interested in making the deal: interested in each other (or in a common cause) and capa-
In any horary chart, the querent is represented by the 1st house and its ruling planet. ble of bringing the deal to life. This next chart illustrates how even a nice friendly sextile between buyer and seller didn’t produce a purchase-and-sale agreement — because the seller was in no condition to sell. Another single-family house caught our eye in March 2006. This cozy home on a quiet one-way street had been home to one family for many years, as evidenced by lovingly worn-down wood floors, a small but well-kept yard, and a pantry stocked with jars of homemade marinara sauce. As other couples at the open house examined each room in turn, my husband and I sat in the backyard, looked at each other, and asked, “Is this the right house?” We talked for a few minutes and clarified the question to mean, “Will we
buy this house? Would we be happy living here?” As in the first example, we as querents are represented by the 1st house and its ruler. With Cancer rising (see Chart 2, opposite), our only significator is the Moon at 2°04' Gemini in the 11th house. Again, we look at the 7th and its ruler, Saturn retrograde at 5°13' Leo in the 1st, to see whether we will come to an agreement with the seller. Can we connect the buyer to the seller in this chart? At first glance, it looks promising! We’re represented by the Moon, whose very next aspect is the sextile to Saturn, the seller. That’s just the kind of immediate aspect we want to see. However, it’s not a done deal yet. As John Frawley teaches, in order for the hoped-for event to occur, three things are necessary: means, motive, and opportunity. In other words, each planet must be strong enough to act (the means); it should ideally show some interest in the other party (the motive); and there should be an aspect bringing the two together (the opportunity).2
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because the Moon will first oppose Saturn at 9° Leo. Finally, to my puzzlement, I saw that the debilitated Sun at 18° Libra (the property) was actually moving to conjoin Jupiter (the sellers). The conjunction would perfect when both significators reached 29° Libra. An applying conjunction between the property and the sellers tells me that the house isn’t leaving their possession at all — quite the opposite. What happened? The sellers failed to respond to our offer within the requested time period, letting it expire on the table instead. Rather than force the issue, especially after seeing what this chart warned about the condition of the house, my husband and I decided to continue our search elsewhere.
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Horary Astrology How do you know whether a significator is strong enough to act? Look at its essential dignity (strength by sign) and its accidental dignity (placement in fortunate houses in the chart). With the applying sextile between buyer and seller, we’ve established an opportunity, but it looks like this seller doesn’t have the means to proceed. The ruler of the 7th house, Saturn in Leo, is in its detriment (essentially debilitated), plus it’s accidentally debilitated by being retrograde. Something tells us that this seller just can’t sell. With his significator retrograde, he might even change his mind about putting his house on the market. Because the question also includes, “Will we be happy in this home?” we examine the 4th house and its ruler. Looking at this chart, what troubled me about the 4th house is the presence of the South Node, only four degrees away from the IC. That’s not an optimistic sign for happiness in that home. Another technique I have learned, which I find very useful for home-buying charts, is to mentally pick up the querent’s significator and drop it just inside the 4th house, examining its essential
In order for the hopedfor event to occur, three things are necessary: means, motive, and opportunity. dignities in that sign and degree, to see whether the querent would be happy “inside” that home. (You can also use this technique when asking, “Will I enjoy this job?” by putting your significator just inside the 10th; or “Will I enjoy this exotic vacation?” by putting your significator just inside the 9th.)3 So, according to this technique, the Moon, our significator, would be at 8° Libra, dignified only by face, the bare minimum of essential strength. Between the South Node and the ho-hum indication of a Moon in its face, I concluded that we could do better. We did not bid on this house but kept looking. As of this writing (January 2007), I can find no record of the house’s having sold between March 2006 and today. I wonder if the seller changed his mind about selling and chose to keep the house in the family after all. If we mentally pick up the seller’s significator, Saturn, and drop it inside the 4th house, Saturn is in its
exaltation in Libra: rather highly dignified essentially but giving the sense that the seller values the place more than it can possibly be worth. Perhaps he never found a buyer willing to pay his price. Or perhaps he decided that you can’t put a price on a family homestead. Question 3: Will we move this year? As we’ve seen, horary astrology sheds uncanny light on specific housebuying questions such as the ones I discussed above. It’s also very good at describing trends and a general forecast, when there is no specific house being asked about. Spending almost every Sunday going to open houses can start to wear on you — even when you have optimistic Jupiter in the 1st, like I do. After one particularly trying, unproductive Sunday afternoon, my husband turned to me and said, “I have a Question.” (I can usually tell when he’s pronouncing “question” with a capital Q, meaning, “Time to boot up your horary brain.”) He went on to ask, “Will we be spending another winter in our current home?” I’ve learned that there’s more than one way to find a “yes” or “no” answer to your question in the horary chart. John Frawley writes: “For all its simplicity, the method is unendingly subtle.”4 And indeed, Chart 3 (below) shows two prominent indications that our cur-
Chart 3
42 www.mountainastrologer.com
View from a condo balcony.
rent situation was about to change. First, we see the Moon in a waning Balsamic phase, only 16.5 degrees from conjunction with the Sun. This is a clear symbol of a cycle coming to an end. Second, our significator, Mars (ruler of the 1st house), has just changed sign, leaving fixed Leo for mutable Virgo. I had lived in that apartment for six years, and my husband had joined me there for four of those years. Seeing our significator leaving a fixed sign confirmed my conclusion that this long-term situation was ending and that we were on the verge of finding our new home. Also, I was happy to see Jupiter, mildly dignified in its term at 9° Scorpio, close to the Ascendant: a positive sign of good fortune for us. Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, we viewed a condo we had seen and loved but ruled out as being too expensive; now that its price had dropped, we put in an offer, and after several days of counteroffers and negotiations, our offer was accepted. We finalized our purchase of the condo in the
last few hours of summertime, on September 22, 2006. The testimonies of this chart described the situation perfectly.
3. Frawley gives an example of this technique in The Horary Textbook on p. 220; it is used to determine whether a querent’s child will do well at school.
Author’s Note: Many of the techniques of horary analysis that I use here are delineated in William Lilly’s book, Christian Astrology (1647). But it is John Frawley who has made these techniques and others so accessible and comprehensible to me through his writing and teaching. For this, I owe him my thanks.
4. Frawley, The Horary Textbook, p. 163. © 2007 Christine Nuwayser Davis – all rights reserved
Chart Data Chart 1: October 11, 2005; 8:57 p.m. EDT; Medford, MA, USA (42°N25', 71°W06'). Chart 2: March 5, 2006; 1:21 p.m. EST; Medford, MA, USA (42°N25', 71°W06'). Chart 3: July 23, 2006; 2:13 p.m. EDT; Medford, MA, USA (42°N25', 71°W06').
References and Notes 1. John Frawley, The Horary Textbook, Apprentice Books, 2005, p. 167. 2. John Frawley, The Real Astrology Applied, Apprentice Books, 2002, p. 4.
Christine Nuwayser Davis enjoys watching the moon rise from the balcony of her new condominium. She has completed John Frawley’s Horary Apprenticeship and is certified at NCGR Level III. She practices traditional horary astrology in Arlington, Massachusetts. Contact her via e-mail: [emailprotected]; or telephone: (617) 595-8775.
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